BORDER CROSSING CLOSED
Lebanon said an Israeli strike on Friday cut off the main international road to Syria, after Israel said Hezbollah was transporting weapons through the tiny Mediterranean country’s principal land border crossing.
The strike comes after 310,000 people, mostly Syrians, have in recent days fled the war pitting Israel against Hezbollah in Lebanon for relative safety in neighbouring Syria.
The Israeli military said its fighter jets struck Hezbollah targets near the border crossing overnight.
It said they included a 3.5km long tunnel that “enables the transfer and storage of large quantities of weapons underground”.
The border with Syria is the only land route out of Lebanon and the strike could leave thousands who are unable to fly out trapped.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meanwhile landed in Beirut for talks with Lebanese officials, Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported.
He arrived after an intense night of bombardment of Hezbollah’s main bastion in the southern suburbs, with a US and an Israeli news website saying Israel targeted the militant group’s potential successor just a week after it killed its Nasrallah.
The strikes destroyed at least five buildings and left a huge crater in the road, an AFP photographer said.
A target of one of Israel’s recent Beirut strikes was Hashem Safieddine, a potential successor to Hezbollah chief Nasrallah, US news site Axios said, citing three Israeli officials it did not identify.
Israeli news website Ynet also reported Safieddine had been the target, while the Israeli military told AFP it was looking into the reports.
In Lebanon, a source close to Hezbollah said Nasrallah had been given a temporary burial in a secret location until a public funeral could be held.
Israel announced this week that its troops had started ground raids into parts of southern Lebanon, a stronghold of Hezbollah, after days of heavy bombardment of areas across the country where the group holds sway.
Hezbollah said it shelled Israeli troops in a border area of south Lebanon Friday, in the latest such clash on the frontier.
The militant group also said it kept up its rocket fire, with sirens warning of incoming fire blaring in northern Israel Friday.
Lebanon’s health ministry said that 37 people were killed and 151 wounded by Israeli strikes over the previous 24 hours.
The Israeli military said nine of its soldiers have been killed in combat in Lebanon.
