Israeli Airstrike Targets Key Highway Connecting Lebanon and Syria | Top Points

New Delhi: An Israeli airstrike has cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria, leaving two huge craters on either side of the road. The airstrike Friday rendered the road unusable for cars, leaving people to go on foot to the Masnaa Border Crossing where tens of thousands of people fleeing war in Lebanon have crossed into Syria over the past two weeks.

On Tuesday, Israel began a ground incursion into Lebanon against the Hezbollah militant group while also conducting strikes in Gaza. The Israeli military said nine soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. Israel declared war on the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip in response. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials. Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since then, most of them since Sept. 23, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

MIDDLE EAST CRISIS | LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• Israeli military says it killed Hezbollah communications chief: The Israeli military said Friday that a strike in Beirut the day before killed Mohammed Skafi, the head of Hezbollah’s communications division. The military said in a statement that Skafi was “a senior Hezbollah terrorist who was responsible for the communications unit since 2000” and was “closely affiliated” with high-up Hezbollah officials.
• Hundreds of Americans leave Lebanon on US contract flights: The U.S. State Department says some 350 American citizens, green card holders and family members have now left Lebanon on US-organized contract flights this week. The department announced the new number — up by about 100 since Thursday — after another flight from Beirut landed early Friday in Frankfurt, Germany. The flight had the capacity to carry 300 passengers but only 97 people were aboard, it said.
• Iran's leader praises missile strike on Israel in a speech at Friday prayers: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the country’s recent missile strike on Israel, state TV reported Friday. Khamenei was leading Friday prayers and was to deliver a rare public sermon in the Iranian capital, Tehran, that was being watched for signs of what Iran might plan next. In a 40-minute speech, he praised Tuesday's missile barrage against Israel as a shining job by Iranian armed forces. “It will be done in the future again if it becomes necessary,” he said.
• Japan prepares to evacuate citizens from Lebanon, urging nationals in Iran to leave, too: As Japan prepared to evacuate its citizens from Lebanon, the government also urged those in Iran to leave as soon as possible, while commercial flights are still operating. Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters Friday that Japan’s embassy in Iran renewed its safety advisory to Japanese nationals this week after Iran fired missiles into Israel. Iran’s foreign minister is in Beirut to meet with Lebanese officials: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Beirut where he will discuss with Lebanese officials the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. Iran is the main backer of Hezbollah and has sent weapons and billions of dollars to the group over the years. The Iranian official arrived in Lebanon as Israel launched new airstrikes on different parts of Lebanon, including Beirut’s southern suburb, south Lebanon, and the eastern Bekaa Valley.
• Israeli strike cuts a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria: Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency says an Israeli airstrike has cut a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria. The agency gave no further details about Friday’s airstrike that led to the closure of a road near the Masnaa Border Crossing, from where tens of thousands of people fleeing war in Lebanon have crossed into Syria over the past two weeks. It’s the first time this major border crossing has been cut off since the beginning of the war.
• Israeli warplanes fired two missiles and damaged the road between Masnaa Border: Lebanese General Security recorded more than 250,000 Syrian citizens and over 80,000 Lebanese citizens crossing into Syrian territory during the last week of September, after Israel launched a heavy bombardment of southern and eastern Lebanon. Dama Post, a pro-government Syrian media outlet, said Israeli warplanes fired two missiles and damaged the road between Masnaa Border Crossing in Lebanon and the Syrian crossing point of Jdeidet Yabous. There are half a dozen border crossings between the two countries and most of them remain open. Lebanon’s minister of public works said all border crossings between Lebanon and Syria work under the supervision of the state.
• Australia's PM condemns comments by Iranian ambassador praising Hezbollah's slain leader: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday condemned the Iranian ambassador’s comments praising a recently slain Hezbollah leader, but rejected opposition advice to expel the envoy. Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi described Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by an Israeli missile strike in September in Lebanon, as a “remarkable leader" on social media.