A passenger plane touched down at Beirut's international airport
yesterday, the first since Israel imposed an air blockade on Lebanon nearly five
weeks ago following the eruption of fighting between Israel and Lebanon's
Hezbollah.
A passenger plane of Lebanon's Middle East Airline landed inBeirut's Rafik
Hariri International Airport at about 1:00 p.m. (1000 GMT), said witnesses.
The airport had been forced to close since July 13 after two of its runways
were damaged by Israeli bombardments and under Israel's air blockade.
Only planes carrying humanitarian relief were allowed to land in the airport.
But Israel has maintained sea and land blockades, imposed on Lebanon together
with the air close-off.
The 34-day-long fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which was sparked by
Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers on July 12, ended on Monday under a
UN Security Council resolution.
Aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian disaster in Lebanonas Israel
sealed the country during the conflict.
