Israel Blocks Lebanon's Main Crossing to Syria, Targets Hezbollah in Beirut

2024-10-04 10:34:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Israeli strikes closed Lebanon's main border crossing with Syria early Friday, hours after an intense Israeli attack on Beirut's southern suburbs is believed to have targeted the heir to Hezbollah's slain secretary.

The attacks added to fears inside Lebanon that targeting Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militants will trigger an all-out conflict, with Israel also poised to respond to Tuesday's Iranian missile barrage on its territory. US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Israel's response could include a strike on Iran's oil facilities.

Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hamieh told Reuters that Friday's attack on the Syrian border struck inside Lebanese territory near the crossing, creating a crater four meters (12 feet) wide.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had accused Hezbollah on Thursday of using the crossing with Syria to transport military equipment to Lebanon.

"The IDF will not allow the smuggling of these weapons and will not hesitate to act if forced to do so, as it has done throughout this war," IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee told X. According to Lebanese government statistics, more than 300,000 people - most of them Syrian - had crossed from Lebanon to Syria over the past 10 days to escape the escalating Israeli bombardment.

The southern suburbs of Dahiye, a stronghold of Iran-backed Hezbollah, came under renewed attacks near midnight Thursday after Israel ordered people to leave their homes in several areas, residents and security sources said.

The airstrikes targeted Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, the rumored successor to its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, in an underground bunker, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said at X, citing three Israeli officials.

Safieddine's fate was not clear, he said.

The Israeli military declined to comment and Hezbollah did not comment on Safieddine's fate.

Huge explosions rocked the sky near Beirut's main airport in the early hours of Friday, and Lebanese civilians said they were living in constant fear./ CNA