BEIRUT

The Israeli army on Saturday hacked into the control tower of Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport, issuing threats against an Iranian civilian aircraft attempting to land, according to official sources.

The Lebanese Ministry of Transport instructed airport authorities to prevent the Iranian plane from entering Lebanese airspace following Israeli threats to target the aircraft if it landed at the airport.

Sources within the ministry confirmed to Anadolu that the directive was issued after the Israeli army’s aggressive posturing.

There was no comment from the Israeli side on the reports yet.

However, hours earlier, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari warned that the army "will not allow any weapons to be transferred to Hezbollah," including "through Beirut International Airport."

“We will not allow the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah in any form. We are aware of Iranian weapons transfers to Hezbollah, and we will work to thwart them,” he said in a statement.

“We declare that we will not allow hostile aircraft carrying weapons to land at the civilian airport in Beirut. This is a civilian airport for civilian use, and it must remain that way,” Hagari added.

Lebanese Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh denied on Saturday Israeli claims that Beirut International Airport was being used to deliver weapons to Hezbollah.

He stated that the airport is "exclusively civilian," adding that "military air traffic at Beirut Airport is subject solely to the approval of the Lebanese army."

Earlier, the Israeli army on Saturday claimed the "liquidation" of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a recent airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburb.

In a statement on X, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said Nasrallah was ‘liquidated’ during an operation targeting the central command of Hezbollah located beneath a residential building in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,600 victims, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara