Israel strikes Lebanon-Syria border crossing
Israeli strikes sealed off Lebanon's main border crossing with Syria early on Friday, hours after an intense Israeli attack on Beirut's southern suburbs that is thought to have targeted the heir apparent to Hezbollah's slain secretary general.
The Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen Network said traffic at the Masnaa crossing, going both ways across the border, which had seen some 300,000 people, mostly Syrians, flee Lebanon to Syria, was stopped.
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People carry belongings across the Masnaa Lebanon-Syria border after an Israeli strike
(Photo: Mohamed Azak / Reuters)
Lebanese Transportation Minister Ali Hamieh said the attack near the border crossing created a large crater forcing people to walk across the frontier.
Israeli officials said that the crossing was used to bring in arms for Hezbollah although weapons will likely still make their way across the border to replenish the arsenal of the Iran-backed terror group after much of its armaments were destroyed in Israeli attacks.
IDF Arabic language spokesperson Major Avichay Adaree said that since Israel attacked Hezbollah run border crossings late last month, which were the main access point for weapons, the Masnaa border, operated by the Lebanese government and used by civilians, has been the primary source of weapons being brought into Lebanon. The military returned to strike heavy machinery that was brought in to repair the crossings that were attacked.
"Hezbollah's 4400 unit began transporting weapons, we believe is for use in South Lebanon," Adaree said. "We attacked a truck carrying weapons on Wednesday and it was full of armaments, judging by the secondary explosions, we saw," he said.
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