Israelis blast Beirut airport

Israeli warplanes struck the runways of Lebanon’s only international airport in Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs early today, forcing the airport to shut down.

Shells began raining on a runway during the continuing Israeli air and sea assault against Lebanon, forcing diversion of two flights to Cyprus, airport employees said.

A shell crashed shortly after 6am local time (4am Irish time) on the eastern runway, one of three at the airport. Another impact was heard shortly afterwards. Two flights arriving at the airport had to return to Larnaca Airport in Cyprus.

Lebanese police reported the shells hit the runways and a road leading from the city.

A senior official announced the airport had closed shortly after the shells landed and asked scheduled flights to divert to Cyprus, the neighbouring Mediterranean island.

The main terminal building of the €400m airport, built in the late 1990s, was intact.

It was not clear whether all the shelling came from Israeli warplanes or that gunboats took part in the attack. The airport is in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Hezbollah guerrillas.

The latest fighting erupted in southern Lebanon yesterday after Hezbollah attacked Israeli border positions, capturing two soldiers.

Eight other Israeli soldiers were killed in the fighting and Israel promised harsh retaliation, blasting bridges and roads in southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, doctors said today that a woman was killed in a Hezbollah rocket attack on northern Israel.

The Israeli military later confirmed the 40-year-old woman's death.

Across Israeli border towns, thousands of residents spent the night in underground shelters.

At Nahariya Hospital, patients were moved to secure rooms on lower floors, and about 60 expectant mothers were taken to underground shelters, said the deputy director, Moshe Daniel. He said elective surgery had been halted.

“We are on very high alert,” Daniel told Israel Radio. “We are prepared.”

Nahariya mayor Jackie Sabag said the town had effectively shut down, with businesses closed. Sabag urged all residents to comply with army orders to stay in underground shelters.