Israel renews Lebanon strikes, forces Syria border crossing closed
Israel has launched a land invasion in the south, as well as air strikes on Lebanon, since March 2, when it entered the Middle East war on the side of Iran, a supporter of the armed group Hezbollah.
Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited troops in southern Lebanon on Sunday and vowed to intensify attacks against Hezbollah.
At least five people were killed and 52 injured in the Jnah neighborhood in one of Israel’s attacks in Beirut on Sunday, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
The ministry said that 3 people died and 3 people were injured in the attack targeting an apartment building in the town of Ain Saadeh, east of Beirut, and that 7 people, including a 4-year-old girl, died in the attack in the southern town of Kfar Hatta, far from the Israeli border.
Hezbollah on Sunday claimed to have fired a cruise missile at an Israeli warship off its coast, but the Israeli military told AFP it was “not aware” of such an incident.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the start of the war have killed more than 1,400 people, including 126 children, and displaced more than a million people, according to Lebanese officials.
panic attacks
The strike in Beirut’s Jnah neighborhood fell about 100 meters from the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, Lebanon’s largest public medical facility, a medical source told AFP.
Hospital deputy head Zakaria Tawbeh said “four people died, three Sudanese and a 15-year-old girl, and 31 people were injured.”
“A lot of windows were broken and some of our patients had panic attacks.”
After the initial attack, 53-year-old Jnah resident Nancy Hassan thought she was safe in her home.
“Soon after, planes were flying overhead and we heard a huge explosion, followed by stones raining down on us,” he told AFP.
Hassan lost his daughter in the Israeli attack on the same region during the war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2024.
“My daughter was killed, she was 23. Her friends were killed today. They bomb our neighborhood every time without notice,” he added.
Israel has also launched several attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut, which are now largely evacuated but dominated by Hezbollah.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon warned that close attacks on its positions by Israel and Hezbollah could “potentially lead to return fire.”
vital transition
On Saturday, Israel announced that it would target the Masnaa border gate between Lebanon and Syria, the main crossing point between the two countries.
“Due to Hezbollah’s use of the Masnaa border crossing for military purposes and the smuggling of war equipment, the Israeli army plans to attack the crossing in the near future,” said the army’s Arabic spokesman, Avichay Adraee, and urged people to leave the area.
The border post on the Lebanese side was quickly evacuated.
Mazen Aloush, Public Relations Director of Borders and Customs in Syria, insisted that the crossing was used only by civilians, but said that the crossing would be temporarily closed due to threats.
Masnaa is a vital trade route for both countries and an important gateway for the Lebanese to the rest of the region.
Military expert Hassan Jouni told AFP that Israel’s threat to strike the border “was not based on solid security concerns, but was rather aimed at pressuring the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah.”
At another border crossing further north, known as Qaa, an AFP reporter on Sunday saw a long line of cars and pickup trucks waiting to enter Syria as people searched for an alternative route.
As Israeli troops entered border areas in southern Lebanon and destroyed villages, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun renewed his call for talks with Israel and said he wanted to save the south of his country from destruction on the scale seen in Palestinian territory in Gaza.
“Why don’t we negotiate… at least until we save the houses that haven’t been destroyed yet?” he said in a televised speech.
