Airport balance: Hezbollah missile near Ben Gurion Airport prompts Israeli strike near Beirut's Airport

Report by Lara El Hachem, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi

In the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel, an exchange of fire near major airports in Beirut and Tel Aviv has become a potent symbol of the escalating tensions. 
 
On Wednesday, Hezbollah announced it had targeted the Israeli Tzrifin base, a military training center near Ben Gurion Airport, with a Fateh-110 missile. Although the precise distance between the base and the airport is unclear due to restricted Google mapping, videos revealed smoke near Ben Gurion, suggesting the missile struck close to its vicinity.

In response, Israeli forces conducted an airstrike near Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut later that evening. The targeted area was approximately 110 meters from one of the airport's main runways. 

Footage captured by LBCI News showed the runway was hit by shrapnel rather than a direct strike, with the adjacent western runway also sustaining minor damage. Both runways were cleared overnight, allowing flights to resume as scheduled by 6 a.m. on Thursday.

Access to Beirut's airport remains restricted to media, and damage reports are limited to a few videos showing impacts on infrastructure. Footage from one video reveals damage to a building used for aircraft maintenance services.

The targeted area near the airport runway revealed remnants of various machinery and industrial equipment, including forklifts used to lift heavy weights. The area known as the Ouzai scrapyard, a collection of warehouses, contained scattered foam from one of the storage units. 

Nearby, trucks were also used to transport sand and gravel, and a warehouse that sold imported coal. A scrap yard was found on the elevated ground near the airport fence, along with a stone-cutting factory that appeared to have been used with cranes.

The site, known locally as the Ouzai scrapyard, is an industrial zone close to the airport housing various businesses, including storage facilities for gravel and sand, an imported charcoal warehouse, and a scrap metal yard. Machinery and industrial equipment, including forklifts, were visible in the area. Local residents had already evacuated the zone following prior warnings.

Despite Israeli claims that the area was a Hezbollah site, the evidence suggests that it consisted of industrial and commercial structures.