US and Israeli Officials Discuss Tensions at the Israel-Lebanon Border

 This picture taken from a position in northern Israel bordering Lebanon shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment of a southern Lebanese area on September 4, 2024. (AFP)
This picture taken from a position in northern Israel bordering Lebanon shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment of a southern Lebanese area on September 4, 2024. (AFP)
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US and Israeli Officials Discuss Tensions at the Israel-Lebanon Border

 This picture taken from a position in northern Israel bordering Lebanon shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment of a southern Lebanese area on September 4, 2024. (AFP)
This picture taken from a position in northern Israel bordering Lebanon shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment of a southern Lebanese area on September 4, 2024. (AFP)

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer held a virtual meeting Wednesday to discuss the ongoing tensions at the Israel-Lebanon border, according to a US official familiar with the matter.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, said that senior White House national security officials Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein also took part in the discussions about concerns that the tensions with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah could cause the war in Gaza to spread into a regional conflict.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said White House officials on Wednesday continued conversations with Israeli officials in hopes of sealing a cease-fire deal.
US officials also spoke with Egyptian and Qatari officials, who have served as intermediaries for Hamas. But Kirby declined to confirm that Sullivan and other senior White House officials spoke with Dermer on Wednesday.



Lufthansa Extends Beirut Flight Suspension until October 15

The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July (File photo by Reuters)
The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July (File photo by Reuters)
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Lufthansa Extends Beirut Flight Suspension until October 15

The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July (File photo by Reuters)
The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July (File photo by Reuters)

German airline group Lufthansa said Thursday it was extending a suspension of flights to Lebanese capital Beirut until October 15 due to heightened regional tensions.

Services to Beirut had previously been suspended until the end of September, AFP reported.

The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July.

Lebanese group Hezbollah has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in support of ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

Lufthansa had also suspended flights to Tel Aviv in Israel due to the tensions, but resumed them on September 5.

Flights to Tehran also resumed on September 5, although Austrian Airlines is currently the only airline in the group serving the Iranian capital, a Lufthansa spokesman told AFP.

Germany, France and Britain on Tuesday said they were taking steps to cancel air transport agreements with Iran because of what they said was Iran's delivery of ballistic missiles to Russia.

"The Lufthansa group is aware of the planned sanctions and is in contact with the relevant authorities," the spokesman said.

Germany's foreign ministry on Wednesday said the country was "currently in intensive consultation with its European and international partners about the imposition of new sanctions, including in the aviation sector".