Israeli army says it targeted Hezbollah sites on Lebanese-Syrian border

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army said on Friday that it bombed a Hezbollah site on the Lebanon-Syria border, claiming the location was used for transporting and storing weapons underground.

In a statement, the Israeli military said: “Yesterday (Thursday), as part of the (army’s) efforts to prevent weapons from being smuggled into Lebanese territories, fighter jets … struck an underground tunnel crossing from the Lebanese border into Syria.”

“The 3.5-kilometer-long tunnel enables the transfer and storage of large quantities of weapons underground,” it claimed.

The statement further alleged that “the tunnel's operations were led by the 4400 Unit, which is responsible for the transportation of weapons from Iran and its proxies to Hezbollah in Lebanon.”

The Israeli military said the strike destroyed military buildings, weapons storages, and other facilities, though Hezbollah has not commented on the incident as of yet.

Earlier in the day, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said the Israeli army conducted an airstrike targeting the Masnaa area in eastern Lebanon, cutting off the international road linking Lebanon and Syria.

Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hamieh also told Anadolu that an Israeli airstrike targeted the Masnaa border crossing with Syria, which led to its closure.

The Masnaa crossing is located in the Bekaa region in eastern Lebanon and is considered one of the most important crossing points between Lebanon and Syria.

Israel has launched massive airstrikes since Sept. 23 on what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon that have killed so far more than 1,100 victims, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The aerial campaign was an escalation in a year-long conflict between Israel and the Lebanese resistance group since the start of Tel Aviv’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 41,800 victims, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

At least 1,974 victims have since been killed in Lebanon, more than 9,384 injured, with 1.2 million displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul