FRANKFURT: Top European airlines Lufthansa, KLM and Swiss on Tuesday announced that they were extending their suspension of flights to the Middle East, as tensions spiral throughout the region.
The moves come as Israel launched strikes on Beirut and a senior White House official warned that Iran was preparing to launch a ballistic missile attack “imminently” against Israel.
KLM has pushed out until the end of the year the suspension of its once-daily flight to Tel Aviv “given the situation in the region,” spokeswoman Elvira van der Vis told AFP.
The Dutch airline had already announced in August that it was suspending flights to Israel until October 26.
Also on Tuesday, German airline group Lufthansa said it was suspending flights to Beirut up to and including November 30.
Lufthansa group flights to Tel Aviv will be canceled until October 31 while trips to Tehran remain canceled until October 14.
“We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers,” the group said.
Later on Tuesday the Lufthansa group said that it had also decided to “avoid Iranian, Iraqi and Jordanian airspace up to and including 2 October,” adding that “flights will continue to avoid Israeli airspace up to and including 31 October.”
The Lufthansa group — whose carriers also include Swiss International Air Lines, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines — has repeatedly modified its flight schedule in recent months due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, as have other airlines.
Following the example of its parent company, Swiss said the extension of its flight suspensions was “intended to provide more predictability for both our passengers and our crews.”
The Israeli army said it had launched a ground offensive in Lebanon and that its forces engaged in clashes on Tuesday, further escalating the conflict after a week of intense air strikes that killed hundreds.
Meanwhile, a senior White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity that the United States has indications that Iran was preparing to launch a missile attack against Israel “imminently.”
“We are actively supporting defensive preparations to defend Israel against this attack,” the official said, warning that such an action would “carry severe consequences for Iran.”
European airlines extend suspension of Middle East flights
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European airlines extend suspension of Middle East flights
- The moves come as Israel launched strikes on Beirut and a senior White House official warned that Iran was preparing to launch a ballistic missile attack
- Also on Tuesday, German airline group Lufthansa said it was suspending flights to Beirut up to and including November 30
Lebanese defense minister’s visit to Syria delayed: officials
Menassa had been set to meet his Syrian counterpart
BEIRUT: Syrian Arab Republic’s authorities delayed a visit planned for Wednesday by the Lebanese defense minister that aimed to discuss tensions along the border, officials from the two countries told AFP.
“We were informed on Tuesday by the Syrian party of the postponement of the visit” of Lebanese minister Michel Menassa, a Lebanese official said on condition of anonymity.
The delay was “in no way related to tensions or conflicts,” the official added, without specifying the date to which it had been postponed.
A Syrian government source meanwhile told AFP that the delay was due to “preparations for the formation of a new government.”
Menassa had been set to meet his Syrian counterpart, Murhaf Abu Qasra, in the first visit by a Lebanese minister since the cabinet was formed in February.
Border tensions flared earlier in March after Syria’s new authorities accused Lebanese armed group Hezbollah of kidnapping three soldiers into Lebanon and killing them.
The Iran-backed group, which fought alongside the forces of toppled Syrian president Bashar Assad, denied involvement. But the ensuing cross-border clashes left seven Lebanese dead.
Islamist-led rebels ousted Assad in December.
Syrian Arab Republic’s authorities delayed a visit planned for Wednesday by the Lebanese defense minister that aimed to discuss tensions along the border, officials from the two countries told AFP. (AFP/File)
Israeli attacks have ‘got to stop’: Senior UK minister
- Health secretary: Britain has used ‘every diplomatic lever’ to end ‘unjustifiable’ violence
- FM: ‘Difficult to see’ how Israel’s actions ‘compatible with international humanitarian law’
LONDON: Israel’s attacks on Palestinians have “got to stop,” the UK’s health minister has said.
Wes Streeting denounced Israel’s ending of the two-month ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza as “soul-destroying,” adding that airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave “can’t be justified as self-defense.”
Israel restarted operations in Gaza last week. The territory’s health authorities say nearly 700 people have died since then, the majority of whom are believed to be women and children. It brings the total number of deaths in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, to more than 50,000.
Streeting told The Guardian at a live event on Tuesday that the UK government has used “every diplomatic lever available” to end the “bloody war,” but he still feels “powerless” in the face of renewed Israeli aggression in Gaza and the West Bank.
“I find it soul-destroying seeing the breakdown of the ceasefire and the impact we’re seeing on innocent human lives,” he said.
“I was looking back at some photos just this morning of a place called Susya in the West Bank, which has been under threat of demolition by the Israelis for many years and now is on the frontline of settler violence.
“This is completely unjustifiable. It’s completely intolerable. It doesn’t serve in Israel’s self-interest. It can’t be justified as self-defense, and it has got to stop.”
He added: “It’s very frustrating … feeling powerless in the face of this appalling conflict which does nothing for Israelis or Palestinians.”
A statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 18 said the renewed strikes on Gaza were “only the beginning.”
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy condemned the “appalling loss of life,” saying it is “difficult to see” how Israel’s actions “can be compatible with international humanitarian law.”
Hamas says hostages to return ‘in coffins’ if Israel tries to free them by force
- Statement: Hamas ‘doing everything possible to keep the occupation’s captives alive, but the random Zionist (Israeli) bombardment is endangering their lives’
DOHA: Palestinian militant group Hamas warned on Wednesday that hostages may be killed if Israel attempts to retrieve them by force and air strikes continue in the Gaza Strip.
The group said in a statement that it was “doing everything possible to keep the occupation’s captives alive, but the random Zionist (Israeli) bombardment is endangering their lives.”
“Every time the occupation attempts to retrieve its captives by force, it ends up bringing them back in coffins,” it said.
Israel restarted intense air strikes across the densely populated Gaza Strip last week followed by ground operations, shattering the relative calm afforded by a January ceasefire with Hamas.
Since Israel resumed its military operations in Gaza, at least 830 Palestinians have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
The war was sparked by the militant group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 50,183 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry.
Sudanese army surrounds Khartoum airport and nearby areas, two military sources say
- The Sudanese army is encircling Khartoum airport and surrounding areas
- RSF has mainly stationed its forces in southern Khartoum to secure their withdrawal from the capital
DUBAI: The Sudanese army is encircling Khartoum airport and surrounding areas, two military sources told Reuters on Wednesday, another key development in the ongoing two-year conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The army seized control of the presidential palace in downtown Khartoum on Friday, marking a major gain in a war that threatens to partition the country. The army had long been on the back foot but has recently made gains and has retaken territory from the RSF in the centre of the country.
The RSF has mainly stationed its forces in southern Khartoum to secure their withdrawal from the capital via bridges to Omdurman, witnesses told Reuters.
The UN calls the situation in Sudan the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with famine in several locations and disease across the country of 50 million people.
The war erupted two years ago as the country was planning a transition to democratic rule.
The army and RSF had joined forces after ousting Omar al-Bashir from power in 2019 and later to oust civilian leadership.
But they had long been at odds, as Bashir developed Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, and the RSF, which has its roots in Darfur's janjaweed militias, as a counterweight to the army, led by career officer Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Houthis say US warplanes carried out 17 strikes in Yemen
- Washington on March 15 announced a military offensive against the Iranian-backed Houthis
Sanaa: Houthi media in Yemen reported Wednesday at least 17 strikes in Saada and Amran, blaming the United States for the attacks.
The rebels’ Ansarollah website said US warplanes carried out “aggressive air raids... causing material damage to citizens’ property,” but gave no details of casualties.
Washington on March 15 announced a military offensive against the Iranian-backed Houthis, promising to use overwhelming force until the group stopped firing on vessels in the key shipping routes of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
That day saw a wave of US air strikes that officials said killed senior Houthi leaders, and which the rebels’ health ministry said killed 53 people.
Since then, Houthi-held parts of Yemen have witnessed near-daily attacks that the group has blamed on the United States, with the rebels announcing the targeting of US military ships and Israel.
The Houthis began targeting shipping vessels after the start of the Gaza war, claiming solidarity with Palestinians, but paused their campaign when a ceasefire took effect in Gaza in January.
Earlier this month, they threatened to renew attacks in the vital maritime trade route over Israel’s aid blockade on the Palestinian territory, triggering the first US strikes on Yemen since President Donald Trump took office in January.
Last week, Trump threatened to annihilate the Houthis and warned Tehran against continuing to aid the group.
