A Middle East Airlines (MEA) plane takes off from Beirut airport on Oct. 19, 2024. (Credit: AFP)
Israel's Monday raid on the area of Ouzai, near Beirut's southern suburbs, was only 600 meters away from the main runway at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport (RHIA). After two weeks of calm, the area surrounding the airport was hit again Monday night, as part of a series of roughly 15 Israeli airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs. The strikes, which killed 18 people and injured 60 according to the Ministry of Health's estimates on Tuesday morning, continued throughout the day, reaching the outskirts of Tayyouneh at the northern edge of the suburbs.
Once again, the security of RHIA is being called into question, despite repeated international efforts to keep this vital link between Lebanon and the rest of the world out of the reach of Israeli attacks on southern Beirut.
Shortly after 10 p.m. on Monday, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee sent a series of evacuation notices to residents of buildings marked on maps in red, near what were described as "Hezbollah-affiliated installations and interests." Among them was the "jetty" of the small Ouzai fishing port, which was bombed just 15 minutes later. This was the first time that Ouzai, a working-class neighborhood close to RHIA, had been targeted by Israeli strikes since the beginning of the war.
“They don't usually strike when a plane is approaching”
The proximity of the strike to RHIA’s tarmac reportedly forced airport security officials to temporarily close the main runway, which allows aircraft to approach from the north along the coastline. A security official told AFP Monday night that a Middle East Airlines (MEA) flight — the only airline still operating daily flights to Beirut since late September — had to reroute and land on a different runway than usual (see below).
Illustration by Jaimee Lee Haddad
“MEA switched runways because the main one is close to the Ouzai strike site,” the official said. However, a pilot contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour, speaking on condition of anonymity, offered a different account. He said all flights bound for Beirut that evening “had already landed before the strike.”
He added, “The Israelis usually don’t strike when a plane is in its approach or takeoff phase.”
Still, the pilot acknowledged that if a landing had been required under such circumstances, it would have necessitated an adjustment to the flight plan. “We have six runways at RHIA,” he explained. “Which one we use depends on various factors, including wind, obstacles and the weight of the plane.”
“We prefer the runways near the sea to avoid being close to targeted areas. But if strikes happen, we don’t operate in those corridors. If a strike causes smoke on the flight path, we adjust to avoid the affected runway,” he explained.
Operations back to normal, but tensions remain
Despite Monday night's disruption, operations at RHIA were back to normal on Tuesday, according to an airport employee who confirmed that “all flights today took off and landed as scheduled. There were no changes in our operations due to the strike. We’re continuing with our usual 30 to 40 flights a day while monitoring the situation closely.”
An internal source at RHIA told L’Orient-Le Jour that MEA’s director-general, Mohammad al-Hout, had informed employees at the start of the Israeli escalation about “security measures” coordinated with Lebanese authorities, adding that “negotiations” were ongoing to ensure the airport wouldn’t be targeted.
A photo circulating on social media Monday night showed a partially damaged glass door in one of the airport halls. “I haven’t heard about this broken door,” the source said. “I can assure you there was no major damage inside the airport, apart from some inconvenience caused by the smoke cloud.”
The Lebanese Army has since increased its presence around and inside RHIA. These precautions were noted at the end of September when Israeli military spokesperson Adraee praised Lebanon’s actions in preventing the transfer of military materials through the airport, acknowledging the “civilian” nature of RHIA.
Several indicators suggest that the Israeli military remains closely monitoring all movements around RHIA to disrupt Hezbollah’s supply chains. This is evidenced by strikes on various formal and informal border crossings between Lebanon and Syria.
On Sept. 28, an Iranian plane reportedly turned back after Israel allegedly hacked the control tower, according to a source at Lebanon’s Ministry of Transport, as cited by Reuters. “We will not allow the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah. Beirut's airport is a civilian facility and must remain as such,” Israel had warned.
