Israeli Attacks On Lebanese-Surih Border Close Al-Qaa Cross Access

JAKARTA - Israeli airstrikes near Lebanon's eastern border with Syria have forced important routes to close.

Lebanese officials and the United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Office (OCHA) said the Israeli attack led to the closure of the Al-Qaa and Masnaa border crossings.

Ali Hamieh, Lebanese transport minister, said Al-Qaa was forcibly closed on Friday, October 25 after Israel attacked the Syrian side of the border, just hundreds of meters from the intersection.

Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it was attacking the location of the Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure on the border of Jousieh crossing the northern region of Beqaa referring to the Al-Qaa border crossing.

The IDF accused Hezbollah of exploiting civil crossings to transfer weapons.

The Mansaa crossing is the only route for Lebanese citizens fleeing the war to neighboring Syria.

This latest attack forced parents to carry their children and belongings as they passed two large craters on the road in a bid to seek safety, OCHA said on Thursday.

The Israeli attack now leaves only one operational route between Syria and Lebanon on the Arida border in northern Tripoli, in northwestern Lebanon.

In recent weeks, some 425,000 people, including 300,000 Syrians, have crossed into Syria from Lebanon in an attempt to escape the war with Israel, according to the United Nations.