European airlines suspend flights amid escalating Israel-Hezbollah conflict

Stranded passengers wait at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, Aug. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing)

Some major European airlines, including Air France, British Airways and Lufthansa, suspended their flights to and from Israel and Lebanon on Sunday, with some extending the suspension until Wednesday.

BRUSSELS, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Several major airlines in European countries announced the suspension of flights to and from Israel and Lebanon Sunday following escalating hostilities between the two Mideast countries.

According to French news channel BFMTV, Air France has decided to suspend its flights to Israel's Tel Aviv and Lebanon's Beirut until at least Monday due to growing tensions in the region.

"Today's and tomorrow's flights are canceled," an Air France spokesperson said, noting that the suspension could be extended after the company conducts a new assessment on Monday.

Similarly, British Airways announced a suspension of flights to and from Israel's Tel Aviv until Wednesday.

"Due to the escalating situation in the region, Wizz Air is temporarily suspending flights to and from Israel on the 25th of August," Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air also posted on its website.

This photo shows smoke caused by an Israeli airstrike in Al-Qusayr, Lebanon, Aug. 25, 2024. Three Hezbollah members and one member of the Amal Movement were killed, with six others wounded on Sunday following Israeli bombings in southern Lebanon, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)

Greek flag carrier Aegean Airlines canceled several flights to Israel and Beirut on Sunday. Its official website listed three flights to Tel Aviv and two flights to Beirut, including one scheduled for Monday, as canceled.

German airline giant Lufthansa extended its suspension of flights to Beirut until Sept. 30, and to Tel Aviv and Tehran until Sept. 2.

Israeli and Hezbollah forces engaged in extensive exchanges of fire early Sunday morning along the Israel-Lebanon border, marking a significant escalation in their longstanding conflict.

Hezbollah claimed that it had launched hundreds of missiles into Israel in retaliation for the killing of its commander, Fouad Shokor, in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut last month. In response, Israel reported conducting numerous preemptive airstrikes targeting Hezbollah's rocket launchers in southern Lebanon.

This photo taken on Aug. 25, 2024 shows the building of the Israeli Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Xinhua/Chen Junqing)

Following the most severe exchange of fire between the two sides in the Middle East, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Defense Secretary John Healey both called their respective counterparts in Israel on Sunday, urging for an immediate ceasefire in the region, according to their posts on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In early August, as tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border began to mount, many European countries urged their citizens to leave Lebanon. Meanwhile, some European carriers, including Air France and Romania's national airline TAROM, suspended their flights, although they later resumed services before this latest escalation.