Israel Closes Northern Airspace

On Saturday, the Israeli military announced the closure of its northern airspace for 24 hours, following heightened tensions with Lebanon after the assassination of a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut by an Israeli airstrike on Friday.

Israel's public broadcasting authority stated, "Due to the security situation, the Israeli military has decided to close the airspace from Hadera to the north for 24 hours," adding that only authorized flights would be permitted during this time.

The Israeli army radio further clarified that the airspace closure stretches from Hadera in the Haifa area to the northern border with Lebanon starting Saturday morning.

The decision was made "to reduce the risk of air defense systems mistakenly identifying Israeli aircraft as hostile and intercepting them."

However, the closure primarily affects civilian sports aviation and does not impact international flights.

Meanwhile, there has been intense aerial activity along the Israeli-Lebanese border since the morning, with Israeli warplanes launching a series of heavy airstrikes targeting southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa region.

Earlier today, Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad confirmed that 31 people, including three children and seven women, were killed in Friday's Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs. Another 68 people were injured in the attack.

Hezbollah mourned the loss of 14 members, including two senior commanders, Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmad Wahbi, who were killed in the Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Israel's military operations against Hezbollah have intensified over the past week. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Israeli forces launched attacks targeting "pager" and "walkie-talkie" communication devices, leading to explosions that resulted in numerous casualties.

According to Lebanon’s health minister, the combined death toll from the pager and radio device explosions on Tuesday and Wednesday, as well as Friday’s Israeli airstrike, has reached 70.