Israeli aircraft launched strikes on the Jousiya and al-Masnaa border crossings between Syria and Lebanon.
The Israeli military announced via the official spokesperson for Arab media on “X,” Avichai Adraee, on Friday, October 25, that its aircraft attacked military infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah at the Jousiya border crossing between Syria and Lebanon.
He added that Hezbollah exploited the civilian al-Qaa crossing (Jousiya on the Syrian side) to transport weapons from Syria to Lebanon, just as it exploited the civilian al-Masnaa crossing to use these weapons in operations against Israel.
According to the Israeli army, Hezbollah planned to transfer weapons through the al-Qaa crossing, which is controlled by the military security of the Syrian regime.
It noted that the weapons are delivered by the 4400 unit of Hezbollah, and these weapons are intended for use against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli army called on the Syrian and Lebanese authorities to prevent the use of civilian crossings for terrorist purposes, stating that it will continue its efforts to thwart Hezbollah’s weapons transfer operations.
Lebanese Minister of Public Works and Transport, Ali Hamiyeh, stated that the al-Qaa crossing has ceased operations after an Israeli airstrike targeted the Syrian side of it.
The minister added in a statement to the Lebanese Al-Jadeed channel that the bombing occurred a few hundred meters from the Syrian security office at the al-Qaa crossing, known from the Syrian side as Jousiya.
The Lebanese channel published a video showing a hole caused by the Israeli strike on the Syrian side of the crossing.
For its part, the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen channel reported that Israeli aircraft targeted the al-Masnaa and Jousiya border crossings with Syria, thereby cutting all border crossings between Syria and Lebanon from the Bekaa region.
The Russian Sputnik agency reported that the al-Qaa (Jousiya) border crossing between Lebanon and Syria has become non-operational due to an Israeli targeting, leaving only one of three crossings operational.
It added that the Israeli army also bombed the al-Masnaa border area in eastern Lebanon, leading to the closure of the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria.
The Israeli announcement did not mention the targeting of the al-Masnaa border crossing.
After Israeli threats
On October 3, the Israeli military, through its spokesperson Avichai Adraee, threatened against Hezbollah’s attempt to use the al-Masnaa crossing to smuggle weapons from Iran.
Adraee added, “Hezbollah has turned the weapons transfer operations to a civilian crossing, posing a threat to the citizens of Lebanon and their interests.”
According to Adraee, Hezbollah uses civilian crossings after the bombing of the smuggling crossings used by the party to transfer weapons from Syria for use on the southern front of Lebanon.
There are six legitimate crossings connecting Syria and Lebanon: Jdeidat Yabous, al-Dabousiya, Jousiya, Tal Kalakh, Matrabah, and al-Arida, while there are 17 illegal crossings connecting Syria and Lebanon that operate outside the security control of both countries.
For more than a month, Israeli targeting has repeatedly occurred along the border between Syria and Lebanon, coinciding with an increase in Israeli military operations against Hezbollah.
Yesterday, Thursday, Israel conducted airstrikes in various areas of Syria, one of which targeted a bridge linking Lebanese territory to the Syrian province of Homs, near the city of al-Qusayr.
Three days ago, Israeli warplanes conducted strikes targeting a site near the al-Masnaa crossing on the Syrian-Lebanese border.
On October 4, Israeli aircraft struck the international road between the Jdeidat Yabous and al-Masnaa crossings on the Syrian-Lebanese border, cutting off the road in both directions.
The Israeli military stated at the time that it bombed a two-mile-long (approximately 3.5 kilometers) tunnel on the Lebanese-Syrian border, used by Hezbollah to transfer and store weapons from Iran underground.