The road to the Arida border crossing, connecting northern Lebanon to Syria, on June 3, 2025. This route had been damaged by an Israeli strike on Dec. 5 of last year. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'Orient Today)
The Public Works Ministry has — once again — begun rehabilitating the Arida bridge over the Kabir River in northern Lebanon, aiming to reopen the official Arida border crossing between Lebanon and Syria in Akkar Governorate, L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the North reported Wednesday.
The bridge had previously been destroyed by Israel in late 2024 during the full-scale war between Hezbollah and Israel. It was temporarily repaired, but flooding of the Kabir River in early January swept away essential parts of the structure, leading to its closure once again.
The first phase of the project focuses on removing existing earthen barriers to clean and prepare the site, in preparation for constructing new, solid concrete foundations atop the old bridge structure, according to our correspondent.
This technical step precedes the installation of a specially designed steel bridge intended to restore traffic flow between the two countries, allowing the passage of cars and freight trucks, which have been suspended since the crossing was targeted by hostile Israeli airstrikes.
Our correspondent also reported that the Abboudieh–Dabbousieh crossing and the Qamar Bridge in Wadi Khaled have had their temporary restoration works completed, after attacks by Israel in 2024, pending an official decision by the Lebanese and Syrian authorities to reopen them to legal cross-border traffic between the two countries.
Reporting contributed by L'Orient Today's northern Lebanon correspondent Michel Hallak
Israel continues attacks on southern Lebanon, demolishes buildings in Bint Jbeil