Beruit
On Wednesday, April 2, the Lebanese Army announced the closure of two illegal border crossings with Syria, according to a statement from the army’s leadership.
In the statement posted on its website, the Army-led Directorate of Direction stated, “In the context of combating infiltration and smuggling across the northern and eastern borders, an army unit has closed two illegal crossings in the Durra-Hermel and Masharee al-Qaa.”
On March 28, Syrian Defence Ministers Marhaf Abu Qasra and Lebanon’s Michel Menassa signed an agreement in Jeddah on the demarcation of the land border between the two countries.
The agreement included the establishment of legal committees between the two sides in various areas, the activation of coordination among the committees to deal with security and military challenges, and the schedualing of another meeting in Saudi Arabia in the near future.
The meeting followed violent clashes in mid-March along the Syrian-Lebanese border between elements of Lebanon’s Hezbollah and forces from the Syrian Provisional Government’s Ministry of Defence. These clashes were followed by the latter’s entry into the border village of Housh al-Sayed Ali.
Hostilities were halted after the agreement between the Syrian and Lebanese defence ministries, under which both nations’ forces would withdraw from the village and ensure that Hezbollah militants would not enter it.
The agreement also stipulated increased coordination and cooperation through communication between the Lebanese Army’s Intelligence Directorate and the Syrian Intelligence Service to prevent a further escalation along the border.
Following the signing of the agreement, the Lebanese Armed Forces closed more than 10 illegal crossings with Syria in Masharee al-Qaa and al-Qasr, Hermel, al-Musherfeh, al-Dora, al-Marawiyah, and al-Qabash, and other areas.
The Syrian-Lebanese border, particularly in the western countryside of Homs, continues to witness smuggling activities through illegal routes. Both the Lebanese Government and the Syrian Interim Government are trying are making efforts to curb this phenomenon.
