A Lufthansa flight captain refused to land in Israel on Thursday amid rising tensions between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, according to Israeli media.

The flight was scheduled to land at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv from Munich, Germany, but the captain refused, citing that his crew was not prepared to fly to Israel, Israeli public broadcaster KAN said.

Instead, the flight landed at Larnaca airport in the Greek Cypriot administration.

The airline initially informed passengers that the plane would land at the Greek Cypriot administration for "technical reasons" and then decide whether the flight would continue to Tel Aviv. There has been no comment yet from Lufthansa on the report.

According to KAN, several international airlines canceled their flights to Israel amid a growing escalation along the border between Israel and Lebanon.

Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike on Wednesday in the Iranian capital, Tehran. While Hamas and Iran blamed Israel for the killing, Tel Aviv has not confirmed or denied responsibility.

The killing came a day after Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern outskirts of Beirut.

Fears have grown of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah amid an exchange of cross-border attacks between the two sides. /AA