The incident marks the latest in a series at the Beirut airport, which has been a key point of tension between Iran and people within Lebanon’s government who are cautiously distancing themselves from Iran’s influence.

Lebanon blocked an Iranian airliner from flying into Beirut Thursday after Israel accused Iran a day earlier of using civilian flights to deliver cash to Lebanese terror group Hezbollah. The chief executive of Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport,

Israel has requested to keep its troops in five posts in southern Lebanon until February 28, a Lebanese official and foreign diplomat told Reuters on Wednesday.

Israeli forces had been due to pull out next week but the source told the BBC Israel wanted its military to stay in five positions there for another 10 days, till 28 February. The ceasefire deal that ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah was brokered by the US and France and came into force on 27 November.

Lebanon wants a "full, total and unconditional withdrawal" of Israeli forces, Youssef Rajji told The National in his first trip abroad since he was nominated as foreign minister last week. Speaking on the margin of a conference in Paris to support Syria's political transition,