Egypt Warns Against Dangers of Opening New War Front in Lebanon

A view shows smoke on the Lebanese side of the border with Israel, as people sit at a beach in Tyre, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, southern Lebanon August 25, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
A view shows smoke on the Lebanese side of the border with Israel, as people sit at a beach in Tyre, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, southern Lebanon August 25, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
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Egypt Warns Against Dangers of Opening New War Front in Lebanon

A view shows smoke on the Lebanese side of the border with Israel, as people sit at a beach in Tyre, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, southern Lebanon August 25, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
A view shows smoke on the Lebanese side of the border with Israel, as people sit at a beach in Tyre, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, southern Lebanon August 25, 2024. REUTERS/Aziz Taher

Egypt warned against the dangers of opening a new war front in Lebanon, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday, and called for stability in the country as Hezbollah and Israel clashed again.

Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across southern Lebanon early Sunday in what it said was a preemptive strike on Hezbollah, as the group said it had launched hundreds of rockets and drones to avenge the killing of one of its top commanders last month.

The heavy exchange of fire came amid mounting fears of an all-out war that could draw in the United States, Iran and its militant allies across the region.

The Israeli military said it struck because Hezbollah was planning to launch a heavy barrage of rockets and missiles toward Israel. Soon after, Hezbollah announced it had launched an attack on Israeli military positions as an initial response to the killing of Fouad Shukur, one of its founders, in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month.



Flights Cancelled Amid Hezbollah-Israel Escalation

Passengers wait for their flights at the Beirut International Airport in Beirut on August 25, 2024. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
Passengers wait for their flights at the Beirut International Airport in Beirut on August 25, 2024. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
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Flights Cancelled Amid Hezbollah-Israel Escalation

Passengers wait for their flights at the Beirut International Airport in Beirut on August 25, 2024. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
Passengers wait for their flights at the Beirut International Airport in Beirut on August 25, 2024. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)

Several airlines have cancelled flights to Beirut after Hezbollah launched rockets and drones at Israel on Sunday and Israel's military said it struck Lebanon with about 100 jets.

Jordan's flag carrier Royal Jordanian suspended flights to Beirut "due to the current situation,” the state news agency reported without giving an exact time frame for the suspension.

Officials told Reuters there was no disruption to Jordanian airspace.

As for Air France, it cancelled its flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut until Monday at least, the company said.

On Friday, German airline giant Lufthansa said it was extending a suspension of flights to Beirut until September 30.

Lebanon's civil aviation authority emphasised Sunday that "the airport is functioning normally" despite some disruptions.

There is "no truth" to rumours that all flights have been cancelled, said a statement from the authority carried by the official National News Agency.

A number of airlines had already announced flight suspensions or cancellations to Beirut in recent weeks, with some later resuming services.