Lufthansa cancels all flights to Lebanon till Oct 16

Beirut: German airline Lufthansa has cancelled all flights to Lebanon till October 16, media reports said.

“Due to the current situation in the Middle East, Lufthansa will suspend its flights to Beirut/Lebanon (BEY) up to and including October 16,” a company spokesperson said on Saturday, CNN reported.

This follows a move by the carrier earlier this week to suspend flights to and from Tel Aviv, up to and including October 22 due to the “unclear situation” in Israel.

Israel and militants in Lebanon have been engaged in a tit-for-tat exchange of fire on the border between the two countries since last weekend, when Hamas’ October 7 surprise attack on Israel, and Israel’s attack on Gaza that followed, prompted regional tensions to spiral, CNN reported.

At least one journalist was killed and six others injured on Friday in southern Lebanon when Israel fired artillery into the area they were gathered.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged firing artillery into Lebanon saying that it was in response to an explosion near the security fence near a kibbutz. Additionally, a Lebanese security source said that an Israeli Apache helicopter was seen over the site of the attack, CNN reported.

The journalists were wearing body armour identifying them as “press” at the time of the attack.