The Japan Times - Israel renews Lebanon strikes, forces Syria border crossing closed

Israel has launched airstrikes across Lebanon as well as a ground invasion in the south since March 2, when armed group Hezbollah entered the Middle East war on the side of its backer Iran.

Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir visited troops in southern Lebanon on Sunday and pledged to intensify strikes against Hezbollah.

One of Israel's strikes in Beirut Sunday killed at least five people and wounded 52 in the Jnah neighbourhood, the Lebanese health ministry said.

A strike targeting an apartment building in Ain Saadeh town east of Beirut killed three people and injured three others, while a strike in the southern town of Kfar Hatta, far from the border with Israel, killed seven people including a four-year-old girl, the ministry said.

Hezbollah on Sunday claimed to have fired a cruise missile at an Israeli warship off the coast, but the Israeli military told AFP it was "not aware" of such an incident.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the start of the war have killed more than 1,400 people, including 126 children, and displaced over a million, according to Lebanese authorities.

- Panic attacks -

The strike in Beirut's Jnah neighbourhood landed about 100 metres away from the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, the largest public medical facility in Lebanon, a medical source told AFP.

Zakaria Tawbeh, deputy head of the hospital, said they received "four killed, three Sudanese and a 15-year old girl, and 31 wounded".

"Lots of glass was broken, and some of our patients had panic attacks."

After the first attack, 53-year-old Jnah resident Nancy Hassan thought she was safe at home.

"Shortly after, the planes were flying overhead, and we heard a huge bang, then stones rained down on us," she told AFP.

Hassan lost her daughter in an Israeli strike on the same area during the 2024 war between Hezbollah and Israel.

"My daughter was killed, she was 23 years old. Today, her friends were killed. Every time, they bomb us in the neighbourhood without warning," she added.

Israel also launched several strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, an area now largely evacuated but where Hezbollah holds sway.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon warned that attacks by Israel and Hezbollah near its positions "could potentially draw return fire".

- Vital crossing -

On Saturday, Israel had said it would target the Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, the main gateway between the two countries.

"Due to Hezbollah's use of the Masnaa crossing for military purposes and smuggling of combat equipment, the (Israeli army) intends to carry out strikes on the crossing in the near future," said the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee, urging people to leave the area.

The border post was quickly evacuated on the Lebanese side.

In Syria, borders and customs public relations director Mazen Aloush insisted the crossing was exclusively used by civilians but said it would close temporarily due to the threats.

Masnaa is a vital trade route for both countries and a key gateway to the rest of the region for Lebanese people.

Military expert Hassan Jouni told AFP that Israel's threat to strike the crossing "is not based on sound security considerations but rather aims to pressure the Lebanese government... to disarm Hezbollah".

At another border crossing further north known as Qaa, an AFP correspondent on Sunday saw a long line of cars and vans waiting to enter Syria as people sought an alternative route.

As Israeli troops push into border areas in southern Lebanon, destroying villages, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated his call for talks with Israel, saying he wanted to spare his country's south from destruction on the scale seen in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

"Why don't we negotiate... until we can at least save the homes that have not yet been destroyed?" he said in a televised address.

H.Hayashi--JT