Syrian authorities said Saturday that they had temporarily closed the Jdeidet Yabous border crossing with Lebanon after Israel warned it could strike the road leading to the nearby Masnaa crossing, a major gateway between the two countries. Damascus said the crossing on the Syrian side is used only for civilian traffic and denied any military activity there, while Israel said Hezbollah uses the route for military purposes and for moving weapons.
In a statement, Syria’s General Authority for Land and Sea Borders and Crossings said Jdeidet Yabous is “designated solely for civilian use” and insisted that “There are no armed groups or militias present at the crossing, and it is not used for any activity outside civilian and legal frameworks.” The agency said movement would resume once conditions stabilized. On the Israeli side, the military issued an evacuation warning for the area near the main Lebanon-Syria crossing, saying the strike threat was tied to Hezbollah’s alleged use of the route.
The closure matters because Masnaa is Lebanon’s main land crossing into Syria and a vital commercial and passenger artery linking Lebanon to the wider region. The route has become even more important during previous rounds of fighting, including periods when Syrians fled Lebanon back across the border. The crossing was also struck in October 2024 during an earlier Israel-Hezbollah war and remained shut until repair work began after a ceasefire the following month.
The latest disruption comes as Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah expands beyond southern Lebanon and closer to strategic transit infrastructure. Israeli forces have been striking targets across Lebanon and have carried out ground operations since early March, after Hezbollah joined the broader regional conflict on Iran’s side. The new warning near Masnaa suggests that border roads and logistics corridors are once again moving closer to the center of the battlefield.
