Lebanon beefs up measures at Beirut airport amid Israeli threats

Lebanese authorities have beefed up measures at the country’s only civilian airport to ensure that it is protected amid escalating Israeli attacks on the country.

As Israel had threatened that any military support that comes through the airport to Hezbollah will jeopardize it, Lebanese authorities have been scrambling to attest their control over Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.

Sources said that the Lebanese army has been assigned to oversee the arrival and departure of airplanes from and to the airport. Transport Minister Ali Hamieh said this week that the Beirut airport “is subject to Lebanese laws and to the scrutiny of various relevant departments and security agencies.”

“Any military aircraft or plane carrying weapons must be approved by the Lebanese army” and be licensed to do so by his ministry.

Hamieh had reiterated a similar stance that was made earlier this week during a security meeting at the Grand Serail to discuss the situation at the airport.

An army source said that the airport security apparatus, which includes the Lebanese army among other security agencies, will inspect the contents of cargo shipments at the final stage to guarantee they are as declared.

Last month, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned that Israel will not allow military assistance to reach Hezbollah saying in a post on X that Israel “we will not allow enemy flights with combat equipment to land at Beirut Airport.”

After the Israeli threat, Lebanon’s transport ministry told an Iranian aircraft not to enter its airspace.

Calls have increased in recent days on the need to protect the airport and maintain that air traffic is not affected despite Israeli strikes coming close at times to the airport’s vicinity.

For the time being, Lebanon’s only national carrier, the Middle East Airlines (MEA), is still operating.

Hamieh had said that Lebanon “seeks to keep its public airport, sea ports and land crossings – chief among them the Rafik Hariri International Airport – functional.”

He said that “ongoing international calls have given us a sort of assurance” that the airport will be spared Israeli strikes, however he added that “there is a big difference between assurances and guarantees.”