Qatari plane lands in Beirut despite blockade

A Qatar Airways plane landed at Beirut airport on Monday carrying 142 passengers - the first commercial flight from the country to Lebanon since the war. Israel said it gave permission for the flight and more were expected. The Airbus 320 landed at Rafik Hariri International Airport in the first of what the national carrier of Qatar said would be daily commercial flights from Doha to Beirut. An IDF spokesman said the Qatar Airways flight was coordinated with Israel and was the fourth Qatari flight to land with Israeli permission in Beirut since Friday - an apparent reference to past aid flights, as this was the first known regularly scheduled commercial flight from Qatar.