Lebanon's Minister of Transport, Fayez Rassamny, assured Saturday that Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport is operating normally and that national carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) continues to fly « normally », according to Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA).
Reaching the airport is far from risk-free © Mena Today
Lebanon's Minister of Transport, Fayez Rassamny, assured Saturday that Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport is operating normally and that national carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) continues to fly « normally », according to Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA).
The reassurance, however, tells only part of the story.
MEA is now virtually the only airline still serving Beirut, as foreign carriers have suspended their flights one by one - some on a day-by-day basis, others for defined periods - in the shadow of the US-Israeli war against Iran and the ongoing conflict engulfing the region.
The airport's continued operation comes with an uncomfortable geographical reality: the only express road connecting central Beirut to the airport runs alongside the southern suburbs, Hezbollah's stronghold and one of the most heavily targeted areas in Israeli strikes.
Every passenger, every crew member, every flight that lands or departs Beirut does so within earshot - and eyesight - of an active war zone.
That Middle East Airlines continues to fly under these conditions is either an act of remarkable resilience or extraordinary risk, possibly both.
For Lebanon, a country already on the edge, keeping its airport open is not just a logistical necessity. It is the last lifeline connecting a besieged nation to the outside world.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had ordered troops to move further into Lebanon in the battle against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, despite a ceasefire announced more than six weeks ago.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has demanded an emergency UN Security Council meeting following Israel's seizure of Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon, calling it a "major fault" and accusing Israel of violating international law and ceasefire commitments.
Israeli forces have reportedly taken control of Beaufort Castle, known in Arabic as Qal'at al-Shaqif, a strategically commanding hilltop fortress in the Shebaa Heights of southern Lebanon, according to reports emerging on Sunday.
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