Lebanon
Airlines suspend flights as Middle East tensions rise
Concerns over a wider conflict in the Middle East have prompted international airlines to suspend flights to the region or to avoid affected air space.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday for meetings with Israeli leaders, the first stop of a wider Middle East tour to launch another push for an elusive ceasefire.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 22, 2024. Reuters/Nathan Howard
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday for meetings with Israeli leaders, the first stop of a wider Middle East tour to launch another push for an elusive ceasefire.
The top U.S. diplomat's latest trip - his 11th to the region since Palestinian Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, triggering the Gaza war - comes as the Israeli military has intensified its campaign in the Palestinian enclave as well as in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia.
Blinken will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and other officials during the day as part of a week-long Middle East visit that also includes Jordan and Qatar.
Diplomatic efforts have thus far failed to bring an end to the year-long Gaza war and its spillover conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, which has dramatically intensified in recent weeks after a year of exchanging fire mostly across Lebanon's southern border.
Hezbollah early on Tuesday morning said it had launched volleys of rockets at two Israeli military bases near Tel Aviv and a naval base west of Haifa.
Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Tel Aviv
Concerns over a wider conflict in the Middle East have prompted international airlines to suspend flights to the region or to avoid affected air space.
Hezbollah has stashed hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in a bunker built under a hospital in Beirut, Israel's military said on Monday, adding it will not strike the facility as it keeps up attacks against the group's financial assets.
Israel's security services have broken up a spy ring that was gathering information on behalf of Iranian intelligence in the latest attempt by Tehran to recruit Israelis for espionage, the Shin Bet and police said on Monday.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.