On Friday, October 4, a Lebanese official stated that Israel launched airstrikes near the main border crossings between Lebanon and Syria, resulting in the interruption of traffic in both directions.
Lebanon’s Minister of Transportation, Ali Hamie, revealed that the airstrikes destroyed the road leading to the Masnaa border crossing in Syria and stated that the crossing point has been closed.
Hamie mentioned that the attack hit a road near the border crossing in Lebanon, creating a four-meter-wide crater.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson previously accused Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese armed group, of using the border crossing to smuggle military equipment into Lebanon.
IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee stated on the social media platform X, “The IDF will not allow the smuggling of these weapons, and if forced to do so, we will take action without hesitation, just as we have done throughout the war.”
The Masnaa border crossing is located on the Beirut-Damascus International Highway in the Bekaa Valley, serving as a key transport route for people and goods between the two countries. In recent days, tens of thousands of people have used this road to flee conflict zones.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on Thursday that since the escalation of the conflict, approximately 160,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria, with the majority heading towards the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Over the past two weeks, Israel has intensified its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. As the military operations continue, the IDF on Friday requested residents of over twenty towns in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately.
Dahiye in southern Beirut is a stronghold of Hezbollah, and sources from residents and security forces reported another attack close to midnight on Thursday after Israel requested residents in certain areas to leave their homes.
Barak Ravid, a journalist from the American news website Axios, cited three Israeli officials on the X platform, stating that the target of the IDF airstrikes was Hezbollah commander Hashem Safieddine, who is believed to be the successor to the assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, trapped in an underground bunker.
Ravid mentioned that Safieddine’s fate is currently unknown.
Safieddine, Nasrallah’s cousin, was designated as a terrorist by the U.S. State Department in 2017.
As the chairman of the executive committee, Safieddine is responsible for overseeing the political affairs of Hezbollah. He is also a member of the war committee, which manages the organization’s military operations.
(*This article contains information referenced from Reuters)