An airliner lands in Beirut, as black smoke rises over the southern suburbs of the capital, following an Israeli strike, Oct. 1, 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/OLJ)
Between two barrages of the downpour of bombs hitting Beirut's southern suburbs, a plane quietly passes behind the columns of smoke. It is a Middle East Airlines (MEA) aircraft about to land on the tarmac of Rafik Hariri International Airport (RHIA), almost as if nothing was happening. This surreal contrast of a passenger plane flying over a blazing Beirut suburb was captured by chance at around 1:30 a.m., during the night from Friday to Saturday, by al-Jazeera's cameras, as the Qatari channel was covering live the Israeli raids ravaging the suburb, including neighborhoods near the airport. The first barrage, at around 6:30 p.m. on Friday, had killed Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.
In the night from Sunday to Monday, a building just a few meters from the Cola intersection, near the road connecting downtown to RHIA, was in turn hit by an Israeli strike, killing at least four people, including three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Twenty-four hours later, another strike targeted "a Hezbollah surface-to-air missile warehouse" 1.5 km east of RHIA, according to the Israeli army.
These two new attacks, with the first hitting the heart of Beirut rather than just its southern suburbs, mark a new escalation in this conflict, which has been ongoing since Oct. 8, 2023, before taking a dangerous turn last week.
"RHIA is a civilian airport, and it must remain so"
Having become the only real gateway to the outside world since the deterioration of security in Syria, the airport continues its mission as best it can. "Airport operations continue normally," said MEA Director-General Mohammad al-Hout again on Saturday, despite the massive suspensions announced in recent weeks by nearly all airlines of their routes to the Lebanese capital. The national airline will also be the only one to still maintain a daily connection between Beirut and the outside world this week.
"Last week, we operated between 30 and 35 flights, including round trips, compared to 40 normally. Most are packed," said an MEA employee. "This can go up to 38 at most, especially when embassies ask us to reserve seats or charter additional flights to evacuate their personnel," he added.
The question arises even more in light of the fate of RHIA during previous conflicts. On the second day of the 2006 war, the Israeli army bombed the airport tarmac, causing it to close for several weeks. It was far from the first time; as early as 1968, Israeli commandos had targeted (empty) MEA planes.
"In the current situation, it seems unlikely that Israel would target the airport directly. It is not a priority military target, as they have made clear," said a security analyst contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour, referring to the message posted Saturday on X by the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee. "The Lebanese state, unlike the Syrian state, has acted responsibly by prohibiting the transfer of combat materials via the airport. ... Beirut's airport is a civilian infrastructure and must remain as such," he insisted, warning against any Hezbollah attempt to resupply by air.
This statement came shortly after an Iranian plane was barred from landing in Lebanon on Saturday, according to information from a source in the Ministry of Transport, cited by Reuters. The Israeli army had reportedly "hacked" RHIA’s control tower to send a message to the aircraft and threaten to use "force" if it landed in Lebanon.
The publication of an unsigned article by British media outlet The Telegraph last June, citing "whistleblowers" claiming RHIA was being used as a "stockpile of weapons and missiles" for Hezbollah, had rekindled fears of it being targeted. These allegations were strongly denied by numerous observers and by caretaker Transport Minister Ali Hamieh, affiliated with Hezbollah’s political wing, who invited the press to visit the airport to prove otherwise.
"A ground incursion would increase the risk of targeting"
"Targeting an airport or an aircraft full of civilians and foreign nationals is a red line that Israel would find difficult to cross," said Kriss Kachouh, creator of the Lebanese Plane Spotters account. "RHIA officials welcomed this statement by the Israeli army pointing out the Lebanese authorities’ efforts to secure the airport as a positive sign," he added.
However, according to the aforementioned security expert, a ground incursion in South Lebanon, which had early signs visible Monday night, could increase the risk of an Israeli action against RHIA. "The scenario of a ground invasion would raise the probability of a targeted strike preventing the airport from operating from 30 percent to 50 percent. This could be part of a broader strategy to damage Lebanon’s supply chains and communication routes to support their ground forces and prevent Hezbollah from resupplying," he analyzed.
The first signals of this potential strategy appeared at the start of this week, and the Israelis could take advantage of this to hinder RHIA's accessibility in a more subtle way. "If they see the airport as a civilian building, that’s not necessarily the case for the surrounding civilian neighborhoods and roads; it’s all part of the same equation," the expert recalled.
"Without directly striking it, the Israelis could block access and paralyze the airport while avoiding backlash from international aviation authorities. This would be less controversial, but the result would be the same, and it appears to be the most likely scenario," he concluded.
However, it is difficult for some travelers to shake this thought. "We were very tense while heading to the airport, even more so after the strike that hit a nearby neighborhood," said Elsa*, a passenger on the Cyprus Airlines Beirut-Larnaca flight on Saturday night, referring to the Israeli raid that targeted the Hay el-Sallom neighborhood that evening, south of the Burj al-Barajneh Palestinian camp, in the immediate vicinity of RHIA. This anxiety followed her until the plane took off around 1 a.m., even though it was originally scheduled for 9:30 p.m.
"We spent more time waiting on the tarmac than in the air," added this 27-year-old Franco-Lebanese, as another strike, this time on Choueifat, also at the far south of this suburb, delayed the takeoff once more.
Situation "more manageable" for air traffic controllers
There remains the question of Lebanese army soldiers and RHIA employees who remain at their posts for now. "All our teams will be mobilized as planned this week. We have very regular security updates in coordination with the army," said the aforementioned MEA employee.
As for other companies, such as those in the free zone, most personnel continue their shifts day and night, despite a few exceptions that have led to rather funny scenes: "Since there was no one left at the counter, people helped themselves directly from the shelves before paying by leaving money near the cash register," Elsa testified after her visit to a RHIA restaurant on Saturday night.
Lastly, the reduction in air traffic has actually made the job of air traffic controllers easier, whose staffing had been reduced to the bare minimum at the start of the economic crisis. "The number of controllers hasn’t changed," Kriss Kachouh said. "They were already very few for controlling traffic in normal times. Now that only MEA is operating in Beirut, the situation is paradoxically easier to manage for them."
This was confirmed by a pilot who wished to remain anonymous for professional reasons. "So far, flight safety hasn’t been too compromised, at least as long as Israel hasn’t changed its policy toward RHIA. If the airport remains open, that means there are still enough controllers and that the safety of the air corridors is assured."
*Name has been changed.
