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Iraq Flights Coming under Heavy Inspections at Beirut Airport over Hezbollah Funds 

Cars queue as they drop passengers outside the Beirut–Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon July 30, 2024. (Reuters)
Cars queue as they drop passengers outside the Beirut–Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon July 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iraq Flights Coming under Heavy Inspections at Beirut Airport over Hezbollah Funds 

Cars queue as they drop passengers outside the Beirut–Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon July 30, 2024. (Reuters)
Cars queue as they drop passengers outside the Beirut–Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon July 30, 2024. (Reuters)

Flights flying to Beirut from Iraq are coming under heavy security measures and thorough inspections at the Lebanese capital’s Rafik Hariri International Airport in search of any funds or assets that may be transferred to Hezbollah.

Director of the airport Fadi al-Hassan told Asharq Al-Awsat that the inspections of all civilian flights are routine, whether they are flying in from Iraq or Iran. The same measures are adopted for all flights from all over the world.

A security source at the airport said, however, “extraordinary measures are being adopted for the Baghdad flights, similar to those adopted for the ones coming from Iran.”

It told Asharq Al-Awsat that the inspections cover all passengers, luggage and packages onboard these flights.

“The inspections are not aimed at bothering the passengers, but they have been imposed by the conditions created by the Israeli war on Lebanon. Lebanon is committed to the security standards that the state agreed to with the Americans so that Beirut airport would not become a target for Israel and lead to its closure,” it explained.

“The measures adopted by the security agencies at the airport are in line with a political decision taken by the former government and they ensure that the facility will continue to operate normally,” it stressed.

Airlines from all over the world stopped operating flights to and from Beirut airport during the war due to security concerns. Only Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines, as well as airlines from Iraq and Iran, kept operating flights normally.

Israel had, however, directly threatened Iraqi and Iranian flights, warning them against landing in Beirut, because they may be carrying weapons and funds Iran to Hezbollah.

The threat put a stop to the flights from Iraq and Iran, but they resumed after the ceasefire went into effect on November 27.

Lebanese and Iraqi airlines have been operating three to five flights daily to and from Beirut and Baghdad since the ceasefire.

The security source said airport security is intensifying its inspections of flights from Iraq, similar to the measures taken to inspect flights from Iran. Reports have said that the Iranians, after coming under intense inspections at the airport, have resorted to sending funds to Hezbollah through Iraq.

The source confirmed that Beirut airport is under intense international scrutiny, especially by the Americans.

An Iraqi flight from Baghdad to Beirut was cancelled on Monday, with sources speculating it may have been in objection to the heavy security measures or due to logistic reasons.

Security and military affairs expert Khaled Hamadeh said the security measures at Beirut airport are normal and adopted at airports all over the world.

The Lebanese state is obligated to take measures that would combat money-laundering, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Beirut airport is under international scrutiny, especially by the Americans, and allowing funds from Iraq or Iran to pass through will put Lebanon in danger, he warned.

The intense security measures have already caused tensions.

Last year and before the ceasefire went into effect, passengers on an Iranian plane carrying Ali Larijani, advisor to the Iranian Supreme Leader, refused to be searched at Beirut airport. A similar dispute erupted because another Iranian flight also refused the inspection.

Hamadeh said that such uproar is unnecessary because the airport security is only doing its job.

Any Iraqi or Iranian flying in from any part of the world will be searched once they arrive at the airport, he explained. They will be suspected of carrying Iranian funds to Hezbollah.

Such inspections are at the heart of the security agency’s duties at the airport. It is their job to protect the facility and provide the necessary conditions for it to continue to operate normally and securely, he stated.

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Arab World

South Lebanese Mayors, Residents Protest Israeli Demolitions

A child waves a Lebanese flag while residents, mukhtars, and inhabitants of the devastated southern Lebanese border villages protest against the destruction of their villages and being prevented from returning by order of the Israeli army, at Martyrs’ Square in central Beirut on April 30, 2026. (AFP)
A child waves a Lebanese flag while residents, mukhtars, and inhabitants of the devastated southern Lebanese border villages protest against the destruction of their villages and being prevented from returning by order of the Israeli army, at Martyrs’ Square in central Beirut on April 30, 2026. (AFP)
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South Lebanese Mayors, Residents Protest Israeli Demolitions

A child waves a Lebanese flag while residents, mukhtars, and inhabitants of the devastated southern Lebanese border villages protest against the destruction of their villages and being prevented from returning by order of the Israeli army, at Martyrs’ Square in central Beirut on April 30, 2026. (AFP)
A child waves a Lebanese flag while residents, mukhtars, and inhabitants of the devastated southern Lebanese border villages protest against the destruction of their villages and being prevented from returning by order of the Israeli army, at Martyrs’ Square in central Beirut on April 30, 2026. (AFP)

Dozens of residents and local officials from southern Lebanon gathered in Beirut on Thursday to protest Israel's destruction of their villages, which has been ongoing despite a fragile ceasefire.

Before and after the truce agreed on April 17 in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel has been carrying out demolitions in the south and preventing the return of residents to more than 50 villages.

"We can't go back. It's been bulldozed -- basically there's nothing to go back to," Ibrahim Hamza, the mayor of the coastal town of Naqoura, told AFP.

"The situation is dire and the Israeli enemy is present inside the village."

Standing in Beirut's central square, protesters carried Lebanese flags and photos of their devastated villages, some had signs asking "where is the ceasefire?".

Two days after the ceasefire began, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the country's military would "remove the houses in the contact villages near the border that served in every respect as Hezbollah terror outposts".

Israel has declared a "yellow line", some 10 kilometers (six miles) deep inside Lebanon, where its troops are operating.

"What is happening in Bint Jbeil... is systematic annihilation and destruction of trees and people," said Mohamed Souheili, 56, a local official in the town, now on the Israeli-controlled side of the "yellow line".

The southern town witnessed intense clashes in the days leading up to the ceasefire, evoking for many Lebanese its history of major battles in earlier wars.

"Trees are being uprooted from the ground, and not a single sign of life remains in the town," Souheili said.

The Lebanese government's scientific research council estimated earlier this month that the war had already damaged or destroyed more than 50,000 housing units.

AFP photos from April 15 showed extensive destruction in two such villages, including Mais al-Jabal.

Hosn Qabalan, from Mais al-Jabal, lost her home during an earlier round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in 2023 and 2024.

"We went back and our house was gone," the 55-year-old grandmother said, "we sat on the rubble".

Lebanon accused Israel, which refused to withdraw from five positions in southern Lebanon during the 2024 ceasefire, of carrying out a campaign of destruction in those villages and preventing their reconstruction.

Qabalan is nonetheless determined to make it back home once again.

"Even if we have to sit on bare ground, what matters is that we return to our land," she said.

Arab World

Hezbollah Signals Possible Return to 1980s 'Tactics' Against Israeli Army

Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 29 April 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 29 April 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
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Hezbollah Signals Possible Return to 1980s 'Tactics' Against Israeli Army

Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 29 April 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli military vehicles maneuver on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 29 April 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

Overlapping media leaks from within Hezbollah on activating “martyrdom fighters” (suicide operatives) have raised questions about the next phase on the southern front, amid talk of non-traditional combat options that echo the warfare of the 1980s.

Media leaks citing military sources within Hezbollah said the group is studying a return to “1980s tactics,” including activating what it described as “martyrdom units.”

The issue gains additional weight in light of prior rhetoric within the group. Former Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah described fighters in the south during the 2024 “support war” as “martyrdom fighters,” reflecting the nature of the fighting and battlefield conditions.

The renewed use of the term raises questions over whether it is mobilizing rhetoric or an indication of potential operational choices.

Environmental Constraints and Technological Shift

Retired Brigadier General Yarub Sakhr told Asharq Al-Awsat that “the field reality in southern Lebanon makes talk of a return to suicide operations closer to a theoretical proposition than a practical option.”

He added: “The south today is largely depopulated due to displacement and destruction, which strips this type of operation of one of its key elements, namely the ability to conceal within a civilian environment.”

“Technological advances in surveillance and reconnaissance, along with Israel’s extensive target bank, make carrying out such operations extremely difficult, if not impossible, under constant monitoring and precise tracking, in addition to the difficulty of movement and field access.”

He noted that “signaling the existence of such operations along the border with Israel is used in a propaganda context,” adding that “the real message goes beyond the military dimension to the Lebanese domestic arena, where this rhetoric is employed as a pressure tool on officials and political forces to push them toward certain foreign policy choices.”

According to Sakhr invoking the 1980s approach does not stop at suicide operations but also recalls a broader pattern that included kidnappings and assassinations.

He affirmed that the comparison between the current situation in the south and that of the 1980s is not accurate, stressing that “talk of a return to this mode of warfare remains within the realm of slogans and political pressure rather than a viable military option under current conditions.”

Between Theory and Application

By contrast, retired Brigadier General Fadi Daoud told Asharq Al-Awsat: “Talk of reviving 1980s methods is not merely media rhetoric, but reflects that this option exists within the party’s available capabilities.”

He said references to suicide operatives ready to act “fall within the human capabilities that have long been one of the party’s strengths.”

“These operations, despite major technological advances in surveillance and monitoring, can still have battlefield impact, because technology remains limited in effectiveness against a human element determined to reach its target.”

Daoud said the effectiveness of such operations “depends on the nature of the target, the level of surrounding security protection, and field measures around sites and facilities,” noting that “the chances of success vary from case to case based on these factors.”

He said any potential use of such capabilities would remain directed at Israeli targets, adding that carrying out such operations inside Israel would require infiltration and direct access to the target, which faces major field challenges and makes success rates uneven.

“Merely signaling this option carries psychological and strategic weight, recalling past experiences in the Israeli memory and sending a message that any settlement that does not take balances into account could lead to escalation outside conventional frameworks.”

Operational Meaning of the Term

A source following Hezbollah’s operations told Asharq Al-Awsat that “the use of the term ‘martyrdom fighters’ does not necessarily mean a return to traditional suicide operations, but reflects the nature of the current battlefield phase under the siege imposed on areas in southern Lebanon.”

He added: “Fighters are fully aware of the scale of risks surrounding them and deal with them on the basis of fighting to the utmost limits.”

The source noted: “What is meant by the term is readiness for engagement under the most difficult battlefield conditions, and continuing the confrontation until death if imposed, not as a separate tactical option but as part of the nature of the battle itself.”

Arab World

Lebanese Defense Minister: Talks With Israel Aimed at Peace, Not Surrender or Trade-Offs

Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa (National News Agency)
Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa (National News Agency)
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Lebanese Defense Minister: Talks With Israel Aimed at Peace, Not Surrender or Trade-Offs

Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa (National News Agency)
Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa (National News Agency)

Lebanon’s Defense Minister, Major General Michel Menassa, said on Thursday that his country had entered negotiations for peace, not for surrender or trade-offs.

The state-run National News Agency quoted Menassa as saying, during a meeting with Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Sami Abi al-Muna in Verdun: “We discussed the Israeli aggression against our country and the ongoing efforts to stop it. Preserving national unity, rallying around Lebanese legitimacy, and ensuring that arms remain exclusively in the hands of the Lebanese army and official security agencies were our shared priorities. Helping our people overcome this ordeal has been our concern, and rising above narrow calculations in favor of major national objectives will remain our goal.”

He added: “If we are heading to negotiations, they are for peace, not for surrender. We are going to negotiate, not to trade off. We want to stop the rivers of blood in honor of the martyrs, and we, as Lebanese, Muslims and Christians, insist on remaining united.”

He expressed hope that “this ordeal will end, that this cloud will pass, and that the light of deliverance will rise over Lebanon and its people.”

For his part, the Druze spiritual leader stressed “the duty to rally around the state and its legitimate institutions, foremost among them the military establishment, especially under the current circumstances, in support of carrying out its assigned tasks in protecting Lebanon and its sovereignty,” warning against any “attempts to undermine civil peace,” and saying that “a strong Lebanon is a united Lebanon.”