Lufthansa flight captain refuses to land in Israel amid escalation with Hezbollah

JERUSALEM

A Lufthansa flight captain refused to land in Israel on Thursday amid rising tensions between Israel and Lebanese group Hezbollah, according to Israeli media.

The flight was scheduled to land at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv from Munich, Germany, but the captain refused, citing that his crew were not prepared to fly to Israel, the Israeli public broadcaster KAN said.

Instead, the flight landed at Larnaca Airport in the Greek Cypriot Administration.

The airline initially informed passengers that the plane would land in the Greek Cypriot Administration for “technical reasons” and then it would be decided whether the flight would continue to Tel Aviv.

There was no comment from Lufthansa yet on the report.

According to KAN, several international airlines canceled their flights to Israel amid a growing escalation along the border between Israel and Lebanon.

Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in an airstrike on Wednesday in the Iranian capital, Tehran. While Hamas and Iran blamed Israel for the killing, Tel Aviv has not confirmed or denied its responsibility.

The assassination came one day after Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburb.

Fears have grown about a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah amid an exchange of cross-border attacks between the two sides.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of a deadly Israeli onslaught on Gaza which has killed nearly 39,500 people since last October following an attack by Hamas.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar