IDF strikes Syria-Lebanon border crossings used by Hezbollah to smuggle arms
Arida Crossing put out of service while other routes damaged in overnight attack; sirens sound in northern Israel, but army says it was a false alarm
Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck several border crossings and land routes between Syria and Lebanon overnight on Thursday that the military said were used to transfer weapons to Hezbollah.
Strikes were carried out on the Arida Crossing between northern Lebanon and Syria, as well as on several routes in the al-Qusayr area.
Syria’s state news agency SANA said the Arida Crossing was out of service following the strikes.
The military said the bombings were part of a campaign against Hezbollah’s Unit 4400, which is tasked with delivering weapons from Iran and its proxies to Lebanon.
The strikes come just over a week into a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Israel Defense Forces has said that it will continue to act to prevent all weapons deliveries to the Iran-backed terror group amid the truce, including by striking shipments anywhere in Lebanon or Syria.
The IDF also said that troops of the 146th Division located several rocket launchers aimed at Israel during operations in the western sector of southern Lebanon.
During scans, the army said the soldiers found and destroyed launchers, mortars, dozens of rockets, ammunition crates and assault rifles.
“The IDF operates in accordance with the understandings between Israel and Lebanon, while maintaining the terms of the ceasefire,” the military said.
Troops are still deployed to southern Lebanon, and the military said it will “act in the face of any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens.”
On Friday morning, sirens sounded in the northern communities of Kfar Yuval, Maayan Baruch, and Kfar Szold amid fears of an attack from Lebanon.
The military said interceptor missiles were launched at a “suspicious aerial target” over the Galilee but later clarified that it was a “false identification” and there had been no threat.
Sirens have sounded in northern Israel periodically since the ceasefire went into effect, though they have all been false alarms.
On Monday, Hezbollah launched two mortars at the Mount Dov area, — where several IDF positions are located and no towns — marking their first attack on Israel since the truce was agreed upon. Sirens did not sound in any towns amid that incident.
Hezbollah claimed that it launched the mortars in response to Israel’s “repeated violations” of the ceasefire. In response to the mortar fire, the Israeli military launched a wave of airstrikes in Lebanon, later saying that fighter jets struck Hezbollah operatives and dozens of rocket launchers and facilities belonging to the terror group across Lebanon.
Senior Israeli officials were quick to condemn the Hezbollah attack, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing a firm response.
“Hezbollah’s firing at Mount Dov constitutes a serious violation of the ceasefire, and Israel will respond forcefully,” he said in a statement. “We are determined to continue to enforce the ceasefire, and to respond to any violation by Hezbollah — a minor one will be treated as a major one.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz on Tuesday warned that if Hezbollah keeps violating the truce, the Lebanese government will no longer be exempt from blame for attacks, and Israel’s military responses will not distinguish between the terror group and the country where it is based.
The ceasefire that came into effect last Wednesday stipulates that the IDF has 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where it launched an operation in October to drive Hezbollah from the border region, and cede responsibility for the area to the Lebanese army. An American-led committee is to adjudicate complaints regarding potential ceasefire violations.
Hezbollah forces would leave southern Lebanon, and the terror group’s military infrastructure in the south would be dismantled, according to the agreement. The US has also reportedly provided a side letter specifying Israel’s rights to respond to any violations of the deal. The letter is said to include guarantees from Washington that allow Israel reconnaissance flights over Lebanon as long as they do not break the sound barrier.
The Lebanese army, which kept to the sidelines during the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, was looking for more recruits as it beefed up its presence in southern Lebanon. It said those interested in joining up have a one-month period to apply.
The Lebanese army has about 80,000 troops, with around 5,000 of them deployed in the south. However, before the war began, its forces were no match for Iran-backed Hezbollah, which did as it pleased throughout Lebanon and particularly in its south.
According to Hebrew media reports, US special envoy Amos Hochstein recently sent a message to Jerusalem in which he urged Israel to uphold the agreement. In particular, he cited Israeli drone flights over Beirut.
Hezbollah began firing into Israel one day after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel, in support of its fellow Iran-backed terror group, drawing Israeli reprisals and leading to the displacement of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.
Fighting intensified in late September, with Israel killing much of Hezbollah’s leadership and launching a limited ground incursion on October 1 that saw soldiers search villages for rockets and other arms held by the terror group and tackle its terror tunnels and other infrastructure.
