The border between Lebanon and Syria at Qasr, a village in Hermel, on February 13, 2025. (Credit:Matthieu Karam/L’Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — The Lebanese Army closed six illegal crossing points along the Lebanese-Syrian border in Hermel district on Monday afternoon and arrested several suspected traffickers, as part of several announced operations cracking down on smuggling between the two countries.
According to a statement published on the army's X account, authorities arrested five citizens and one Syrian national having received information about illegal smuggling operations in the Mashrouat al-Qaa area. They also seized a vehicle loaded with "fuel and foodstuffs intended for smuggling."
Another patrol, the statement continues, raided the homes of "wanted individuals," resulting in the arrest of a man wanted for "smuggling, opening illegal crossing points," and reopening those previously closed by the army.
These raids and arrests come as Lebanese authorities are stressing the importance of strengthening the Lebanese Army, historically underfunded, to address issues related to the Lebanese-Syrian border, which has also seen deadly clashes between clans and new Syrian forces in the last month.
Army pistols and smuggled goods were also seized and then handed over to the relevant authorities. Efforts continue to arrest all of the individuals involved.
Earth embankments and bulldozers
Earlier in the day, the Lebanese Army announced having closed six illegal crossing points in Hermel, at the Lebanese-Syrian border. These cross-border passages, closed by bulldozers creating earth embankments, are located in the regions of Hoch al-Sayyed Ali, Mashrouat al-Qaa, and Qabech.
The ministerial committee tasked with examining measures to secure the borders and combat smuggling had recommended on March 20 to "strengthen the army's capacities," in army equipment and manpower, to enable it to combat the smuggling more effectively.
Participants in this ministerial meeting also requested Defense Minister Michel Menassa "to continue contacts with his Syrian counterpart to address the causes of recent border clashes and prevent their recurrence," a prelude to the announcement made Monday morning by an anonymous source to AFP of a visit to Damascus by Menassa on Wednesday, the first minister in Salam's government to visit Syria.
The most recent upheaval at the Lebanese-Syrian border occurred on March 16, following an incident that the Lebanese side describes as an "infiltration" of Syrian soldiers into Lebanon, at the village of al-Qasr, while Damascus speaks of an ambush and the "liquidation" of Syrian soldiers "by Hezbollah."
Hezbollah has denied any involvement. Exchanges of gunfire involving the Lebanese Army, which also used heavy artillery, were reported in the area. The next day, March 17, a cease-fire was reached between Lebanon and Syria.