Lebanon’s General Security Directorate said Friday the country is closing all land border crossings with Syria except for a main one that links Beirut with the Syrian capital Damascus.
The decision by the security agency in charge of border crossings came hours after an Israeli airstrike damaged the Arida border crossing with Syria in north Lebanon, days after it was reopened.
Separately, Jordan’s Interior Minister al-Frayeh said Friday the Naseeb border crossing with Syria had been closed because of the security situation on the Syrian side. He spoke after Syrian opposition activists said insurgents had captured the main border crossing with Jordan, forcing the Syrian authorities to leave.
Separately, Israel’s military said in a statement it planned to reinforce its forces stationed in the Golan Heights and near the border with Syria, where civil war has reignited between the government and rebel groups. The statement said it was “monitoring developments and is prepared for all scenarios, offensive and defensive alike.”
Meanwhile, Syrian insurgents entered the central towns of Rastan and Talbiseh early Friday just north of the central city of Homs, bringing them closer Syria’s third largest city, an opposition war monitor and pro-government media both reported. The break came a day after opposition gunmen captured the central city of Hama, Syria’s fourth largest.
In other developments, a Hamas official said international mediators have resumed negotiations with the militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he is hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war is within reach.
Israel’s war against Hamas has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced 90% of the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel in October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.
Israel’s blistering retaliatory offensive has killed at least 44,500 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
