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Flights Suspended, Countries Urge Citizens to Leave Lebanon amid Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Civil defense members and people gather near a site hit by what security sources said was a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir Purchase Licensing Rights
Civil defense members and people gather near a site hit by what security sources said was a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir Purchase Licensing Rights
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Flights Suspended, Countries Urge Citizens to Leave Lebanon amid Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Civil defense members and people gather near a site hit by what security sources said was a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir Purchase Licensing Rights
Civil defense members and people gather near a site hit by what security sources said was a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir Purchase Licensing Rights

The United States on Wednesday raised its travel advisory on Lebanon to its highest "do not travel" classification, citing rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah after a strike on southern Beirut killed a top commander of the armed group.

"Do Not Travel to Lebanon due to rising tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. If you are in Lebanon, be prepared to shelter in place should the situation deteriorate," the advisory said, adding that citizens in southern Lebanon or in refugee settlements should leave.

Switzerland also urged its nationals to leave Lebanon, noting the highly volatile situation in the country.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group said Wednesday that senior military commander Fuad Shukr was inside a south Beirut building hit by Israel the previous day but said his fate remained unknown.

For its part, Australia has asked its citizens in Lebanon to leave immediately, saying there was a real risk that the tensions between Israel and militant group Hezbollah could escalate seriously. The request follows similar advisory by Britain this week.

"Now is the time to leave, the security situation could deteriorate quickly with little or no notice," Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a video posted on social media platform X late on Wednesday.

Wong said Beirut airport could shut down completely if the situation worsens, potentially stranding people wishing to leave for "an extended period" and urged Australians to use commercial flights while they operate.

Meanwhile, Air France and low-cost carrier Transavia France said Wednesday their flights between Paris and Beirut would remain suspended till the weekend due to the "security situation" in Lebanon.

The two airlines had planned to resume flights on Wednesday, but said they will now remain grounded until Saturday.

"The resumption of operations will be subject to a new assessment of the local situation," an Air France statement said.

Both carriers stopped servicing the route on Monday, a day after Israel vowed to retaliate following rocket fire it blamed on Lebanese armed group Hezbollah that killed 12 people in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

The rocket attack on the Golan sparked fears that fighting between Hezbollah and Israel would escalate.

When those fears subsided somewhat they announced on Tuesday that flights would resume on Wednesday.

But as Israel then struck the Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut on Tuesday evening, targeting a senior commander it blamed for the rocket strike on the Golan Heights.

Hezbollah said Wednesday the commander was inside the building hit by Israel but that his fate remained unknown.

German carrier Lufthansa has suspended flights until August 5.

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Arab World

Israel’s Top Court Allows Aid Groups to Keep Working in Gaza as Israeli Strikes Kill 5 There

Palestinians react as they wait to receive food at a soup kitchen in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 26, 2026. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
Palestinians react as they wait to receive food at a soup kitchen in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 26, 2026. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
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Israel’s Top Court Allows Aid Groups to Keep Working in Gaza as Israeli Strikes Kill 5 There

Palestinians react as they wait to receive food at a soup kitchen in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 26, 2026. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
Palestinians react as they wait to receive food at a soup kitchen in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 26, 2026. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)

Israel's top court on Friday moved to allow international aid groups to keep operating in the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian territories as Israeli strikes killed at least five people across the war-torn enclave. 

The Supreme Court's order, which followed a petition from 17 aid groups, effectively halted an earlier Israeli government decision that barred aid groups for refusing to comply with Israel's new rules. 

Israel had announced it will ban 37 aid groups by March 1 for not abiding by rules introduced last year that require aid groups to register names and contact information of employees, and provide details about their funding and operations. 

The groups view the rules as invasive and arbitrary, and say the ban would hinder critical assistance. Israel says the new measures are necessary to ensure armed groups do not infiltrate humanitarian organizations. 

A US-negotiated ceasefire reached in October has halted major military operations. But the two-year war triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel has left much of the territory in ruins and most of Gaza's 2 million Palestinians reliant on international aid. 

Israel has also continued to strike what it says are gunmen, often killing civilians. 

Aid groups express relief Friday's order was a temporary injunction while the court considers the case. There was no timeline for a final decision. 

“This is, however, a step in the right direction — with a long, long way still to go. We will keep fighting to be able to do our jobs, and deliver life saving assistance to Palestinians in need,” said Athena Rayburn, the executive director of AIDA, an umbrella organization representing over 100 groups operating in the Palestinian territories. 

Lawyers representing the aid groups said the decision has given Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank some “breathing room." 

The petition said the new rules violate international law, and that Israel, as an occupying power, has the obligation to ensure food and medicine reach people. It also says Israel does not have the authority to shutter organizations in areas under the nominal control of the Palestinian Authority. 

COGAT, the Israeli military body overseeing civilian affairs in Gaza, has said that the organizations whose licenses are to be revoked contribute less than 1% of the total aid going into the territory. More than 20 organizations will continue to operate after complying with the new regulations, it said. 

Airstrikes kill at least 5  

Israeli airstrikes overnight killed at least five people, four of them members of the Hamas-run police, officials said Friday. 

Such strikes have repeatedly disrupted the truce since it took effect in October. The escalating Palestinian death toll has left many in Gaza feeling as though the war never ended. 

Three of the five were killed by a strike on a police checkpoint in southern Gaza near Khan Younis, said Dr. Ahmed al-Farra at Nasser Hospital. Another died in a strike on a checkpoint in Bureij refugee camp, according to a statement from the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, which oversees police in Gaza. 

A separate strike in western Khan Younis killed one Palestinian, al-Farra said. 

The Israeli military said it killed several fighters in Rafah, on the border with Egypt. It said the strikes were in response to a violation of the ceasefire. 

The Hamas-run police force has continued to operate in the half the territory under the group's control. The ceasefire agreement calls for Hamas to disarm and hand over power to a committee of Palestinian administrators, and for Israel to withdraw as international forces are deployed. There is no firm timeline for implementing those aspects of the agreement. 

US Embassy provides services in settlement  

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, the US Embassy began offering consular services for the first time Friday in an Israeli settlement. 

The move continues a shift in policy under US President Donald Trump, whose administration has been far friendlier to Israeli settlements in the West Bank than past US leaders. Most of the international community views the settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace with the Palestinians. 

People lined up in the settlement of Efrat, where some 4,000 US citizens live. “The United States says Efrat is part of Israel, Efrat is going to be forever here,” the city’s mayor, Dovi Sheffler, said. 

More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements across the West Bank, which is home to around 3 million Palestinians living under military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in population centers. 

The US Embassy has previously provided consular services in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities in the West Bank, which is home to many Palestinian Americans. 

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, territories the Palestinians want for a future state. 

Arab World

US Envoy Barrack Meets Iraq's Ex-Prime Minister Maliki

FILE: A handout picture made available by the Iraqi prime minister's office on February 22, 2026, shows US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack (L) meeting with Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) in Baghdad's Green Zone. "AFP PHOTO / IRAQI PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE"
FILE: A handout picture made available by the Iraqi prime minister's office on February 22, 2026, shows US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack (L) meeting with Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) in Baghdad's Green Zone. "AFP PHOTO / IRAQI PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE"
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US Envoy Barrack Meets Iraq's Ex-Prime Minister Maliki

FILE: A handout picture made available by the Iraqi prime minister's office on February 22, 2026, shows US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack (L) meeting with Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) in Baghdad's Green Zone. "AFP PHOTO / IRAQI PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE"
FILE: A handout picture made available by the Iraqi prime minister's office on February 22, 2026, shows US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack (L) meeting with Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) in Baghdad's Green Zone. "AFP PHOTO / IRAQI PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE"

The leading candidate to become Iraq's next prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, met with US diplomat Tom Barrack on Friday after refusing to withdraw his nomination despite the US threatening to stop supporting the country if he returns to the post. 

Barrack, the US envoy to Syria and ambassador to Türkiye, has recently visited Iraq multiple times to meet with senior officials. 

Maliki's media office said in a short statement that the PM candidate stressed during the meeting "the need to respect Iraq's sovereignty and the will of its people". 

He also spoke of the "importance of supporting the democratic process and strengthening political stability" in Iraq. 

It wasn't clear what message Barrack conveyed to Maliki. 

Last month President Donald Trump intervened in Iraq's affairs by issuing an ultimatum that if Maliki -- a two-time former premier with close ties to Iran -- was named Iraq's next prime minister, the US would no longer help the country. 

Trump's threat left Iraqi leaders at a loss, particularly within the Coordination Framework -- a ruling alliance of Shiite groups with varying degrees of links to Iran that nominated Maliki. 

Earlier this week, Maliki told AFP he would not withdraw his nomination, while also seeking to allay Washington's concerns. 

"I have absolutely no intention of withdrawing out of respect for my country, its sovereignty, and its will," Maliki told AFP in an interview. 

Arab World

Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah Tells Fighters to Prepare for Long Iran-US War 

A veiled Iranian woman walks past an anti-US mural next to former US embassy in Tehran on February 26, 2026. (AFP)
A veiled Iranian woman walks past an anti-US mural next to former US embassy in Tehran on February 26, 2026. (AFP)
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Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah Tells Fighters to Prepare for Long Iran-US War 

A veiled Iranian woman walks past an anti-US mural next to former US embassy in Tehran on February 26, 2026. (AFP)
A veiled Iranian woman walks past an anti-US mural next to former US embassy in Tehran on February 26, 2026. (AFP)

The Iran-backed Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah told its fighters to prepare for the scenario of a long war in neighboring Iran should the United States launch strikes.

It warned the US on Thursday of "immense losses" were it to start a war in the region, while a commander in an armed faction told AFP his group was "highly likely" to intervene in case of strikes.

"Amid American threats and military build-up indicating a dangerous escalation in the region, it is necessary" for all fighters "to prepare for a potentially long war of attrition," Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement.

The commander told AFP that his group sees Iran as strategic to its own interests, and therefore any attack on the country "directly threatens us".

US-sanctioned Iraqi armed groups did not intervene during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran last year.

This time, the commander said they would be "less restrained", especially in the event of strikes seeking to overthrow the regime.

For months during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Iran-backed groups carried out attacks against US troops in the region and mostly failed attempts against Israel.

Under mounting US and domestic pressure, these attacks came to a halt, while pressure on the groups to disarm has grown.

Iran-backed groups are part of the so-called "axis of resistance", which also includes Lebanon's Hezbollah, Hamas in Gaza and the Houthis in Yemen.

A Hezbollah official told AFP this week that the Lebanese movement would not intervene militarily in the event of "limited" US strikes on Iran, but would consider any attack against supreme leader Ali Khamenei a "red line".

US President Donald Trump has deployed warships and fighter jets near Iran to back up his threats of strikes should ongoing negotiations over Iran's nuclear program fail to secure a deal.

US and Iranian negotiators met for a third round of talks on Thursday, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi telling state TV that the talks "made very good progress."