Filmed at the Arida border crossing in North Lebanon on the occasion of its reopening on Dec. 2, 2024. (Credit: Michel Hallak)
The Arida border crossing between North Lebanon and Syria, which was bombed by Israel last week, is operational again, announced the caretaker Lebanese Minister of Public Works and Transport, Ali Hamieh, who was present at the scene.
This border crossing was bombed on the night of Nov. 26-27, a few hours before the cease-fire in Lebanon came into effect. The border infrastructures of Abboudieh and Jisr Qmar, in the Wadi Khaled region also in North Lebanon, were also struck by the Israeli air force at the same time, and renovation work is continuing in these two places. The reopening of Arida, a strategic crossing point located on the coast in the far north of Lebanon, follows that announced the day before by Minister Hamieh of the Qaa border crossing in the Bekaa. It comes as another border infrastructure, that of Haoush al-Sayyed Ali, in Hermel, was struck by an Israeli army drone earlier this Monday, killing a Lebanese soldier.
Material damage in Arida
The reopening of the Arida border crossing was made possible by renovation works carried out by the al-Arz company on the Lebanese side, while the Syrian authorities carried out the work on their side of the border, Hamieh announced. He was at the site with the chairman of the parliamentary committee for public works, Sajih Attieh, and local MPs Walid Baarini and Mohammad Yahya, and officials from customs, the Internal Security Forces and the General Security (GS).
The strike on the border post, which killed a young girl on the Lebanese side and injured several others, also caused damage to the bridge spanning the El Kabir River, the SG post, the nearby fishing port and homes in the village.
Priority of the Lebanese government
According to Hamieh, the work started last Wednesday allowed a "preliminary" resumption of operations, while "studies are underway for the construction of new bridges to replace those destroyed by the strikes." He hoped that these repairs would allow the Lebanese refugees on the Syrian coast to return home soon. The minister, close to Hezbollah, also announced discussions, during a government meeting, on the assessment of the needs in terms of reconstruction of the infrastructure destroyed by the Israeli strikes, affirming that this is one of the "priorities" of the caretaker government.
Also speaking from Arida, Baarini stressed the importance of reopening these infrastructures, given that Akkar and North Lebanon "are already marginalized." His colleague Yahya called for the Abboudieh and Wadi Khaled crossing points to "be given the same attention" as Arida, demanding financial compensation for those affected.
On Sunday, the minister announced the reopening of the Qaa border crossing in the Bekaa, which then allowed 4,000 people who had fled to Syria to return home on Sunday alone.
The majority of border crossings between Lebanon and Syria were bombed at least once by the Israeli air force between Sept. 23, the date of the launch of the Israeli army's expanded offensive on Lebanon, and Nov. 27 at dawn.