BEIRUT — Israeli fighter jets conducted airstrikes against Hezbollah in neighborhoods next to Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport on March 6, 2026, as Middle East Airlines Flight ME230 approached for landing. Columns of black smoke rose up near the airport as the flight approached. A Lebanese air traffic controller broadcast on an emergency frequency that Flight ME230 needed to land before it ran out of fuel, and the flight landed safely after Israeli fighter jets peeled away following the emergency broadcast.

The airport's eastern runway juts into the Dahiyeh suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that Israel has targeted almost every day since March 2, 2026. Some Israeli strikes have fallen less than a mile from the airport's perimeter fence. The United States has given the Lebanese government assurances that Israel will not attack Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport or endanger civilian aircraft.

Lebanese Transport Minister Fayez Rasamny said the government decided to keep the airport operational despite the risks. "It's very challenging, it's very uncertain, but we took a decision to keep our airspace open since day one of the war," Rasamny said. "We're monitoring every day, every hour the situation at the airport."

Rasamny said he maintains direct contact with U.S. officials to protect airport operations. "I'm in direct contact with the American ambassador to make sure that the airport is safeguarded and also the road leading to the airport," he said. "Officials can only relax when the last flight of the day touches down at around 2 a.m. Then we go to sleep and wake up the next day and manage the situation again."

Mohammad Aziz, head of Lebanon's Civil Aviation Authority, described coordination with Israeli forces during flight operations. "They stop, they let you land, and then they continue," Aziz said. According to an anonymous pilot, it is common to see smoke from previous strikes during landing, and protocols exist to divert flights to airports in nearby countries such as Cyprus if strikes are ongoing.

Most international carriers have canceled flights to Beirut during the wider war in the Middle East, leaving Middle East Airlines as the primary carrier operating around four flights per day to Lebanon's only international airport. Middle East Airlines aircraft frequently take off with clouds of smoke from nearby Israeli attacks visible. In July 2006, Israel bombed the airport during a previous war with Hezbollah, damaging all three runways and destroying several buildings after accusing Hezbollah of using the facility for smuggling weapons.