More Airlines Cancel Beirut Flights Amid Escalation

People watch the sunset along Beirut's seafront corniche as an aircraft approaches to land at Rafic Hariri International Airport on July 29, 2024. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)
People watch the sunset along Beirut's seafront corniche as an aircraft approaches to land at Rafic Hariri International Airport on July 29, 2024. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)
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More Airlines Cancel Beirut Flights Amid Escalation

People watch the sunset along Beirut's seafront corniche as an aircraft approaches to land at Rafic Hariri International Airport on July 29, 2024. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)
People watch the sunset along Beirut's seafront corniche as an aircraft approaches to land at Rafic Hariri International Airport on July 29, 2024. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)

Greece's Aegean Airlines and Germany's Condor cancelled flights to Beirut on Tuesday, the latest airlines to suspend services to the Lebanese capital in recent days as tensions escalate between Israel and Hezbollah.
Aegean said it would suspend flights until Thursday, while Condor cancelled Tuesday's flight from Dusseldorf, Reuters reported.
Air France and Lufthansa Group carriers Swiss, Eurowings and Lufthansa on Monday announced flight cancellations.
A number of other carriers have suspended, delayed or cancelled some flights, although Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport listed arrivals on Tuesday from airlines including Pegasus, Emirates, Royal Jordanian, EgyptAir, Iran Air, Qatar Airways and Etihad.
Lebanon has been bracing for retaliation from Israel since a strike on Saturday in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights killed 12 children and teenagers. Hezbollah has denied blame.



Palestinian Prisoner Group Demands International Inquiry into Israeli Abuse Allegations 

Soldiers lock a gate from the inside at Sde Teiman detention facility, after Israeli military police arrived at the site as part of an investigation into the suspected abuse of a Palestinian detainee, near Beersheba, in southern Israel, July 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Soldiers lock a gate from the inside at Sde Teiman detention facility, after Israeli military police arrived at the site as part of an investigation into the suspected abuse of a Palestinian detainee, near Beersheba, in southern Israel, July 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Palestinian Prisoner Group Demands International Inquiry into Israeli Abuse Allegations 

Soldiers lock a gate from the inside at Sde Teiman detention facility, after Israeli military police arrived at the site as part of an investigation into the suspected abuse of a Palestinian detainee, near Beersheba, in southern Israel, July 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Soldiers lock a gate from the inside at Sde Teiman detention facility, after Israeli military police arrived at the site as part of an investigation into the suspected abuse of a Palestinian detainee, near Beersheba, in southern Israel, July 29, 2024. (Reuters)

The association representing Palestinian prisoners called for an international inquiry into allegations of abuse of detainees in Israeli jails since the start of the war in Gaza, following an outcry by right wing protesters over an Israeli investigation.

Qadura Fares, head of the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission, said on Monday night there had been multiple reports of abuse at Sde Teiman, the military facility in southern Israel at the center of the investigation.

"Every day, as we witness the massacres against our people in Gaza, we hear horrific and harsh testimonies from legal teams and detainees who are released," he said in a statement.

He said the Israeli investigation and the detention of nine Israeli soldiers was a "farce" aimed at misleading world opinion.

The Israeli military said the investigation into the Israeli soldiers was ordered "following suspected substantial abuse of a detainee". It provided no further details.

According to Israeli press reports, the soldiers have been accused of sexually abusing the prisoner. Reuters has not been able to independently verify those reports. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Army Radio reported that the detainee had been a member of an elite unit of the armed group Hamas who had been captured in Gaza during the Israeli offensive there that followed the group's Oct. 7 attack.

The investigation sparked angry protests from some Israelis who said the soldiers had been doing their duty. It also underscored longstanding tensions in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu between hardline nationalist-religious parties and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the army command.

Protesters, including a number of prominent right-wing politicians, broke into two Israeli military facilities on Monday, in a move denounced by Israel's army chief as "bordering on anarchy".