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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

UN Chief Calls for Israel to Re-Open Gaza Crossings amid Fuel Shortage

Palestinians displaced during the two-year Israeli offensive, shelter at a tent camp in Gaza City, March 1, 2026. (Reuters)
Palestinians displaced during the two-year Israeli offensive, shelter at a tent camp in Gaza City, March 1, 2026. (Reuters)
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UN Chief Calls for Israel to Re-Open Gaza Crossings amid Fuel Shortage

Palestinians displaced during the two-year Israeli offensive, shelter at a tent camp in Gaza City, March 1, 2026. (Reuters)
Palestinians displaced during the two-year Israeli offensive, shelter at a tent camp in Gaza City, March 1, 2026. (Reuters)

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Monday for Israel to re-open border crossings into Gaza to allow aid to flow into the war-ravaged territory, his spokesman said.

"Israeli authorities have closed all crossings, including Rafah, and have suspended humanitarian movements in and near areas where Israeli troops remain deployed in Gaza," said spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

"It is imperative that all crossings be reopened... as soon as possible."

Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples may become tight, officials say, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. 

Israel's military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing air strikes on Iran carried out jointly with the United States. Israeli authorities say the crossings cannot be operated safely during war and have not said how long they would be shut. 

FEW DAYS' ‌WORTH OF SUPPLIES 

Gaza ‌is wholly dependent on fuel brought in ‌by ⁠trucks from Israel and ⁠Egypt and a lack of fresh supplies would put hospital operations at risk and threaten water and sanitation services, local officials say. Most Palestinians in Gaza are internally displaced after Israel's two-year war with Hamas. 

"I expect we have maybe a couple of days' running time," said Karuna Herrmann, the Jerusalem director of United Nations Office ⁠for Project Services (UNOPS), which manages fuel distribution in ‌Gaza. 

Amjad Al-Shawa, a Palestinian aid leader ‌in Gaza, who works with the UN and NGOs, estimated fuel supplies ‌could last three or four days, while stocks of vegetables, flour, ‌and other essentials could also soon run out if the crossings remain shut. 

Reuters was unable to independently verify those estimates. 

Israel's COGAT military agency, which controls access to Gaza, said that enough food had been delivered ‌to the territory since the start of an October truce to provide for the population. 

"(The) existing stock ⁠is expected ⁠to suffice for an extended period," COGAT said, without elaborating. It declined to comment on potential fuel shortages. 

The truce was part of broader US-backed plan to end the war that involves reopening the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, increasing the flow of aid into the enclave, and rebuilding it. 

Hamada Abu Laila, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza, said the closures were stoking fear of a return of famine, which gripped parts of the enclave last year after Israel blocked aid deliveries for 11 weeks. 

"Why is it our fault, in Gaza, with regional wars between Israel, Iran, and America? It is not our fault," Abu Laila said. 

Arab World

Strikes Hit Beirut's Southern Suburbs after Israeli Warning

Smoke and dust rise amid explosions in Lebanon, as seen from Israel, after Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran. REUTERS/Shir Torem
Smoke and dust rise amid explosions in Lebanon, as seen from Israel, after Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran. REUTERS/Shir Torem
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Strikes Hit Beirut's Southern Suburbs after Israeli Warning

Smoke and dust rise amid explosions in Lebanon, as seen from Israel, after Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran. REUTERS/Shir Torem
Smoke and dust rise amid explosions in Lebanon, as seen from Israel, after Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran. REUTERS/Shir Torem

Several strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday after Israeli evacuation warnings, as seen on AFPTV's live broadcast, as Israel attacked the country following Hezbollah's dawn missile launches.

Plumes of smoke were rising from the targeted area as state media reported four Israeli strikes on the suburbs.

Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Lebanon renewed its call for citizens to leave Lebanon immediately.

"We urge US citizens not to travel to Lebanon. If you are in the country, depart Lebanon NOW," the US embassy said on Monday, as Israeli strikes pounded Beirut's southern suburbs, and dozens of villages mainly in south Lebanon.

"The US Embassy strongly encourages US citizens in Southern Lebanon, near the borders with Syria, in refugee settlements, and in the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut to depart those areas immediately," the embassy said.

Arab World

Families Take Shelter in Schools as Lebanon’s Government Calls Hezbollah’s Strike on Israel Illegal

A displaced family who fled Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon sits at a school turned into a shelter, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A displaced family who fled Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon sits at a school turned into a shelter, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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Families Take Shelter in Schools as Lebanon’s Government Calls Hezbollah’s Strike on Israel Illegal

A displaced family who fled Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon sits at a school turned into a shelter, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A displaced family who fled Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon sits at a school turned into a shelter, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanese civilians fled from the country's south and Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday, seeking refuge in schools in Lebanon's capital following a new and deadly escalation between Israel and the Iran-allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported at least 31 people were killed and 149 wounded in overnight strikes in the Beirut suburbs and southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese government later Monday slammed Hezbollah's decision to enter Iran's war with Israel and the United States, calling the militant group's actions illegal and demanding it hand over its weapons.

Highways were jammed overnight and into Monday with people fleeing after what was Israel's deadliest barrage on Lebanon in more than a year, striking hours after Hezbollah fired missiles across the border for the first time in more than a year.

Ali Hamdan was stuck in gridlock on the road between his village in southern Lebanon, Deir al-Zahrani, and the port city of Sidon. What should have been a half-hour’s drive had taken seven hours, he said.

“I don’t know how long it will take us to reach Beirut," he said. "I’m headed toward Beirut, but I don’t know where yet. We don’t have a place to stay.”

At a public school in Beirut, hastily converted into a temporary shelter, families arrived carrying mattresses, plastic bags, and bundles of clothing. Other families sat on sidewalks beside their belongings, some men smoking as they waited for space to open inside.

Volunteers moved through the crowd, registering names as families filled classrooms and gathered in the school courtyard.

Hussein Abu Ali, who fled a southern Beirut suburb with his wife and children, described the moment the strikes hit.

“My son began shaking and crying," he said. "Where are you supposed to go? I stepped outside, then back in because I was afraid of shooting in the air. I gathered my children and went down to the street.”

Nadia Al‑Salman, displaced from the southern town of Majdal Zoun, said they left their homes "not out of fear or terror of the United States, but to fulfill our religious and legal duty to protect ourselves.”

During the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in 2024, at one point, more than a million people were displaced in Lebanon. Many have been unable to return to their homes in the south, where villages along the border remain in ruins.

Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel a day after the militant Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggering the war in Gaza. After months of low-level fighting, the conflict escalated into a full-scale war in September 2024 before a US brokered ceasefire nominally halted the fighting two months later.

Since that ceasefire, Israel has continued to launch near-daily strikes in Lebanon, saying it aims to stop Hezbollah from rebuilding.

Monday’s escalation also marked the first time in more than a year that Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for firing into Israel. Hezbollah said in a statement that the strikes were carried out in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and for “repeated Israeli aggressions,” describing it as “a legitimate defensive response."

But Lebanon’s government said it considers Hezbollah’s military activities illegal and that the group should hand over its weapons. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said after an emergency Cabinet meeting Monday that only the state should decide on matters of war and peace.

He added that Hezbollah’s military activities were banned going forward and called on security agencies to prevent the firing of missiles or drones from Lebanon and detain those behind the launch. It was the harshest stance the Lebanese government has taken yet toward Hezbollah, which also has a political party with a parliamentary bloc in addition to its armed militants.

Salam also called on the international community to work on getting a “clear and final commitment” from Israel to stop its strikes on Lebanon.

The Israeli military overnight issued a warning for residents of around 50 communities across southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Israel is keeping “all options on the table,” including a potential ground invasion of Lebanon and threatened that “Hezbollah will pay a very heavy price."

He said Israel has called up more than 100,000 reservists since the war with Iran began on Saturday.

Hezbollah later condemned the government's decision to ban its military activities, while Israel carried out retaliatory strikes in response to rockets fired by the Iran-backed group.

In a statement, Mohammed Raad, the head of the group's parliamentary bloc, condemned Beirut's "swaggering decisions", saying that "the Lebanese were expecting a decision rejecting the (Israeli) aggression".