Israeli strikes hit north Lebanon crossings with Syria for first time, minister says

Israeli strikes late on Tuesday targeted Lebanon’s three northern border crossings with Syria for the first time, Lebanon’s transport minister Ali Hamieh said.

The strikes came moments after US President Joe Biden announced that a ceasefire would come into effect at 4:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) on Wednesday to halt hostilities between Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel.

Hamieh said it was not immediately clear whether the roads had been cut off as a result of the strikes. Israeli raids on Lebanon’s eastern crossings in recent weeks had already sealed off those routes into Syria.

Syrian state media Sana had said Israeli strikes targeted the northern crossings between Syria and Lebanon but it was not immediately clear what side of the border was hit.

Syrian state TV reported that 10 people were injured, including three critically, in an Israeli strike on the Arida border crossing, with the wounded transported to nearby hospitals, while casualties were also reported in a separate Israeli strike on the Dabousieh border crossing with Lebanon.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment but has previously stated that it targets what it says are Iran-linked sites in Syria as part of a broader campaign to curb the influence of Iran and its ally Hezbollah in the region.

Separately, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said later on Tuesday that it struck an Iranian-aligned militia weapons storage facility in Syria in response to an Iranian-aligned attack against US forces in the country on Monday.