The Arida bridge destroyed by an Israeli strike on Nov. 26, 2024. (Credit: Photo provided by our correspondent Michel Hallak)
The last remaining official border crossings between Lebanon and Syria in the north were targeted by Israeli airstrikes just hours before a cease-fire took effect at 4 a.m. Wednesday. The strikes caused significant damage and left over a dozen people injured, including members of Lebanon's General Security, marking the last escalation in Israel’s bombing campaign before the truce.
The attacks, which began at around 11 p.m. Tuesday, hit the Arida, Abboudiyeh, and Jesr Qamar crossings in northern Lebanon, reported our correspondent in the region. He added that “virtually all the bridges at the legal border crossings with Syria in the north were destroyed on both sides of the border, bringing land traffic between Lebanon and Syria to a complete standstill.”
Twelve injured in Arida
In Arida, an inspection of the extent of the damage was organized this Wednesday morning, accompanied by the regional director of the Public Works and Transport Ministry for North Lebanon, Elias Akl, mandated by the caretaker Public Works Minister, Ali Hamiyeh.
Akl reported that the General Security Center suffered extensive destruction, with two floors collapsing. The attack injured 12 Lebanese administrative and military personnel, some critically, according to a statement from the General Security directorate relayed by the National News Agency (NNA). The injured were evacuated to nearby hospitals by the Lebanese Red Cross.
Beyond the General Security center, dozens of vehicles were damaged or destroyed, and traffic remains paralyzed. Homes in the nearby village of Arida sustained significant damage, and fishing boats docked at the local port at the Nahr al-Kabir River were also impacted.
Further upstream, the Abboudiyeh and Jesr Qamar crossings, which face the Syrian towns of Daboussiyeh and Hadideh, respectively, also sustained heavy material damage. While no injuries have been reported at these sites, the Jesr Qamar pedestrian and small vehicle crossing was completely destroyed by the intensity of the blasts, reported our correspondent.
Alternative route
The latest violent attacks, conducted hours before the cessation of hostilities, follow earlier Israeli strikes on official and informal border crossings in the Bekaa and Hermel regions at the beginning of October. Those strikes had similarly disrupted land routes between Lebanon and Syria.
Hamiyeh announced on Wednesday that restoration work on the destroyed crossings was already underway. Excavators were deployed to rehabilitate roads at the Masnaa crossing in the Bekaa.
In Arida, a temporary alternative road is being constructed by the Cedar Company to restore traffic flow until the destroyed bridges are rebuilt. Rabih Halabi, director of the Cedar Company, stated that work on the Arida bridge would begin within a week. “Repair work on other crossings will be completed in the coming days to ensure transport and trade across the border can resume as soon as possible,” Halabi told our correspondent.
