Israel Strikes Lebanon, Beirut Airport Cancels Flights

Israel has launched strikes on various targets in Lebanon in response to a rocket attack from Lebanese territory that resulted in the death of 12 people in Israel, mainly children and adolescents who were at a football field.

Lebanese media report that the Israeli army has shelled 15 settlements in eastern and southern Lebanon with heavy artillery. No specific information on casualties or destruction has been provided. In a drone strike on a car in southern Lebanon, two people were killed and three were wounded.

The Israeli army stated that the attack carried out on July 27 in the occupied Golan Heights was initiated by the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, although Hezbollah has denied these allegations. According to Reuters, the Lebanese government has requested that the United States intervene and call for restraint from Israel.

In response, the Israeli Prime Minister's office reported that the country’s military cabinet authorized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant to decide on the "form and timing" of retaliatory strikes against Hezbollah on July 28. Earlier, Netanyahu had stated that Israel would not let the attack on the Golan Heights go unanswered, and that Hezbollah would pay a heavy price for it.

Due to the tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, flights at Beirut airport have been canceled or delayed. Lebanon's Middle East Airlines announced that changes to its schedule were due to safety-related risks.

According to Reuters, citing security concerns, Swiss International Airlines, Eurowings, and Lufthansa have suspended flights to Beirut until July 30, exercising caution.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry warned on July 28 about the "risks of opening a new front of war in Lebanon." The attack from Lebanese territory on Israel on July 27 was the deadliest since the October 7 attack by the Palestinian Hamas movement, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people in Israel and around 250 captives. The number of casualties from Israeli retaliatory military actions in the Gaza Strip has exceeded 39,000.