Beirut: Israel conducted strikes on the Syrian border with Lebanon that a war monitor said killed seven people, hours ahead of a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Syria's President Bashar al-Assad he was "playing with fire" on Tuesday, as he announced the truce with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Assad is a key ally and backer of Hezbollah, and Syria has served as the main conduit of weapons for the armed group from Iran to Lebanon. Hezbollah deployed fighters into Syria during its civil war, and played a key role in propping up Assad's regime during the revolt that erupted in 2011.
The nighttime strikes hit border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, killing seven people including two Syrian soldiers, a child and a Syrian Red Crescent volunteer, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Syria's defence ministry said earlier that six people were killed in Israeli strikes on border crossings with Lebanon just after midnight on Wednesday.
Israel has conducted hundreds of strikes on Syria in recent years, and intensified its raids since the year-long war with Hezbollah escalated in September. "In Syria, we are systematically blocking attempts by Iran, Hezbollah and the Syrian army to transfer weapons to Lebanon," Netanyahu said. "Assad must understand that he is playing with fire," he added.
On Monday, the Israeli military accused Hezbollah and Iran of establishing "covert routes into Lebanon through Syrian territory" and of using trucks and aircraft to smuggle weapons over the years. According to Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Israel conducted 89 raids on targets in Syria since September 26.
"As long as there are vehicles carrying weapons or movements by Hezbollah or other pro-Iran factions, Israel will continue to target them, as was the case prior to the war in Lebanon," Abdel Rahman told AFP. On Wednesday, as the ceasefire in Lebanon took hold, Lebanese and Syrian authorities announced the start of repair works on the border crossings targeted in recent weeks.
"Construction work...has begun work to rehabilitate and reopen the Masnaa road at the Lebanese-Syrian border crossing," Lebanon Public Works and Transport Minister Ali Hamie said in a statement on X. Syria's official SANA news agency also reported work was underway to rehabilitate the crossing.
"The Damascus Countryside Governorate begins rehabilitation work on the international road linking the Jdeidet Yabous crossing and the Lebanese border and filling craters left by the Israeli aggression," SANA said. Perched on the Mediterranean Sea and with Israel to its south, the only land routes in and out of Lebanon run through Syria. Lebanon relies on the crossings for import and export of goods, as well as for travel.
