Rehabilitation work begins on three border posts between Lebanon and Syria

BEIRUT — The Ministry of Public Works and Transport announced in a statement on Friday that it had begun rehabilitation work on three border posts between northern Lebanon and Syria that were destroyed by Israeli strikes both during and after last year's war. Arida, Abboudieh and Sabaa Qmar (which connects Qobeiyat to Wadi Khaled).

"The ministry's technical teams, in cooperation with the relevant authorities, have begun setting up temporary border crossings to ensure the continuity of traffic and maintain the link between Lebanon and Syria," the ministry said.

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A temporary crossing has been built in Arida, restoring traffic "entirely" at that point and similar work is underway at Sabaa Qmar "to allow crossing while awaiting permanent solutions." A temporary crossing will be arranged at Abboudieh next week "to make it operational as soon as possible."

The ministry said it had opted for these provisional solutions pending the completion of "comprehensive technical studies," which are being conducted in collaboration with "specialized consulting firms."

The purpose of the studies, the ministry explained, is to ensure that the three new border crossings meet the standards and technical specifications "that prevailed before their destruction by the strikes."

The ministry did not provide any information about the timeline for the future work.

The Israeli army has increased its attacks against the Bekaa in recent days, targeting on Thursday a car that had been driving near the Masnaa border crossing with Syria and killing five people.