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Lebanese Gangs Control Crossings on Syria Border

Lebanese-Syrian border crossing (Central News Agency)
Lebanese-Syrian border crossing (Central News Agency)
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Lebanese Gangs Control Crossings on Syria Border

Lebanese-Syrian border crossing (Central News Agency)
Lebanese-Syrian border crossing (Central News Agency)

The story of Lebanese Forces coordinator Pascal Sleiman’s murder on April 7 is still unfolding. His body was found in a Syrian village near Lebanon’s Hermel district, where stolen cars often cross into Syria from Lebanon due to lax border control.

This incident isn’t isolated; investigations show the perpetrators moved freely from Jbeil to Lebanese villages near Hermel.

Recently, during daylight hours, unidentified individuals kidnapped Syrian Mohammed Ghasab on the international road between the Lebanese towns of Riyaq and Baalbek, near Brital town’s entrance.

They took him into Syria through an illegal crossing, having lured him via social media ads about traveling to Europe. The General Directorate of Internal Security Forces had warned against such traps set by professional gangs.

Ghasab’s wife, Nariman Al-Munawar, received a ransom demand of $35,000 to release him, with instructions to send photos of the cash.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Munawar reaffirmed that she’s struggling to provide for her five children and wonders how she’ll come up with the ransom money.

Lebanon still struggles to control its border with Syria, where Syrian villages have become havens for criminal gangs involved in drug trafficking, car theft, and even human trafficking.

These areas, inhabited mostly by Lebanese, operate independently from state control.

They're connected to Lebanon and Syria by 17 illegal crossings, each with names like Alam Crossing and Nasser al-Din Crossing.

Lebanese authorities can only access these areas by coordinating with Syrian security, and vice versa.

Around 8,000 people live in these villages.

An unnamed security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that smuggling of humans, food, and stolen cars between Syria and Lebanon is rampant through these border crossings.

Gangs dealing in drugs and weapons operate freely in these areas, with visible weapons and no authority to stop them.

This activity spans a 22-kilometer border stretch from Al-Qaa to Saqiet al-Jisr, reaching the North Lebanon Governorate’s borders.

Despite efforts to control the borders, the situation remains chaotic.

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Arab World

Syria’s Sharaa, Lebanon’s Jumblatt Discuss Sweida Fallout, Reject ‘Alliance of Minorities’

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt meet in Damascus on Saturday. (SANA)
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt meet in Damascus on Saturday. (SANA)
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Syria’s Sharaa, Lebanon’s Jumblatt Discuss Sweida Fallout, Reject ‘Alliance of Minorities’

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt meet in Damascus on Saturday. (SANA)
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt meet in Damascus on Saturday. (SANA)

A meeting in Damascus on Saturday between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt focused on containing the fallout from violence in Syria’s Sweida province, strengthening Lebanese-Syrian ties and rejecting what both sides described as an “alliance of minorities.”

Jumblatt, former head of Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party, met Sharaa at the People’s Palace in Damascus amid heightened regional tensions and strains along the Lebanese-Syrian border.

A statement from the PSP said the talks stressed improving Lebanese-Syrian relations in a way that serves the common interests of both countries, while rejecting the “alliance of minorities” theory and emphasizing the social and geographic ties linking the two neighbors.

The statement reaffirmed Syria’s unity and called for addressing the aftermath of the deadly unrest in Sweida, the predominantly Druze province in southern Syria.

A brief Syrian presidency statement said the two sides reviewed recent regional developments.

Accompanying Jumblatt to Damascus, Lebanese MP Hadi Abou Al-Hassan said the talks focused on deepening bilateral ties based on respecting the sovereignty and independence of each country, while recognizing longstanding historical and social links.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat Syria’s new leadership was seeking to redefine relations with Lebanon after what he called the end of Syrian tutelage following the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

Abou Al-Hassan said “some actors in Syria and Israel were trying to revive the idea of an ‘alliance of minorities’, but that Damascus no longer viewed the concept as relevant and was instead focused on its strategic Arab ties.”

Saturday's talks also touched on what he described as shared concerns over Israeli escalation against both countries, including fears of a proposed “yellow line” security belt stretching across southern Lebanon from Naqoura to Mount Hermon and potentially into southern Syria.

He noted that such concerns reflected worries over “a dangerous Israeli plan that required coordination and joint efforts to confront.”

Developments in Sweida took up much of the discussions, particularly given Jumblatt’s role in containing the repercussions and his rejection of calls to attach the province to Israel or seek Israeli protection for the region.

Abou Al-Hassan said the talks stressed addressing the fallout from the violence and building on a meeting in Amman involving Syria, Jordan and the United States.

Jumblatt also underscored “support for Syria’s unity and for a strong central state guaranteeing equal rights for all citizens, while preventing any forces from challenging state sovereignty,” he said.

The meeting comes as Lebanese-Syrian ties have improved through border coordination and anti-smuggling efforts, despite Syrian concerns over reported weapons-smuggling tunnels and reports of a security cell in Damascus allegedly linked to Hezbollah, an ally of the ousted regime.

Abou Al-Hassan said both countries needed to dispel mutual concerns and build trust.

Arab World

Lebanon Says Israel Strikes Kill 14 in Deadliest Day Since Truce

Israeli soldiers operate on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 26 April 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. (EPA)
Israeli soldiers operate on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 26 April 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. (EPA)
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Lebanon Says Israel Strikes Kill 14 in Deadliest Day Since Truce

Israeli soldiers operate on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 26 April 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. (EPA)
Israeli soldiers operate on the Lebanese side of the border, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 26 April 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. (EPA)

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country's south on Sunday killed 14 people, the deadliest day since a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war came into force over a week ago.

It came as Israel and the Iran-backed group traded fresh accusations of breaching the fragile truce, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the military was "vigorously" targeting Hezbollah and the group vowing to keep responding to "violations".

Israel's military has carried out repeated strikes in Lebanon since the April 17 ceasefire, which on Thursday was extended for three weeks, after six weeks of war in which Israel also invaded the country's south.

Israeli troops are operating inside an Israeli-announced "yellow line", which demarcates a ribbon of Lebanese territory around 10 kilometers (six miles) deep along the length of the border, where residents have been warned not to return.

Lebanon's health ministry said the dead on Sunday included two women and two children, adding that 37 other people were wounded.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 36 people since the truce began, according to an AFP tally of health ministry figures.

Israel's military said Sunday that one of its soldiers was killed "during combat" in southern Lebanon, and six were wounded, four of them severely.

- 'Freedom of action' -

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli strikes in multiple locations in the south on Sunday, both in areas where Israel issued an evacuation warning and elsewhere.

AFP correspondents reported heavy traffic heading north as people fled following the warning and intensified raids.

"Hezbollah's violations are, in practice, dismantling the ceasefire," Netanyahu told his weekly cabinet meeting.

Tehran-backed Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel to avenge the death of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

"We are acting vigorously in accordance with arrangements agreed with the United States and, incidentally, also with Lebanon," Netanyahu said.

Under the truce, which came after a landmark meeting between Israeli and Lebanese officials that angered Hezbollah, Israel reserves the right to respond to "planned, imminent or ongoing attacks".

"This means freedom of action not only to respond to attacks... but also to pre-empt immediate threats and even emerging threats," Netanyahu said.

Hezbollah said that Israel's "continued ceasefire violations... and above all its continued occupation of Lebanese territory and violations of its sovereignty will be met with a response".

It said its fighters targeted Israeli troops and positions in south Lebanon in response to ceasefire violations and attacks on Lebanese villages.

- More than 2,500 killed -

Israel's military issued evacuation orders for residents of seven towns and villages in the south on Sunday.

Shortly afterwards, the NNA said Israeli warplanes struck in Kfar Tibnit, causing casualties, while a raid on Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, another of the flagged villages, destroyed a mosque and another religious building.

The NNA also reported Israeli shelling in several border villages.

AFP correspondents saw clouds of grey smoke rise over Nabatieh al-Fawqa and several other locations after Israeli strikes.

Israel's military said it had struck "rocket-launching terrorist cells and weapons storage facilities" after earlier conducting "artillery and aerial strikes targeting terrorists and military infrastructure sites" used by Hezbollah north of the so-called "yellow line".

Shortly after Netanyahu's remarks, the military said it had intercepted three drones heading for Israeli territory.

Lebanon's health ministry says Israeli attacks have killed more than 2,500 people and wounded over 7,700 others since the war erupted.

The United Nations' UNIFIL peacekeeping force said it held a memorial in Beirut for an Indonesian peacekeeper who died on Friday after being wounded in a blast in south Lebanon last month.

A preliminary UN investigation found that an Israeli tank shell caused the explosion.

Arab World

UN: Drone Attack Hits Sudan Aid Truck

Shops operate beneath a war-damaged building in Omdurman, on the outskirts of Khartoum, Sudan, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Shops operate beneath a war-damaged building in Omdurman, on the outskirts of Khartoum, Sudan, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
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UN: Drone Attack Hits Sudan Aid Truck

Shops operate beneath a war-damaged building in Omdurman, on the outskirts of Khartoum, Sudan, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Shops operate beneath a war-damaged building in Omdurman, on the outskirts of Khartoum, Sudan, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A drone attack hit an aid truck in Sudan's North Darfur state, destroying all the supplies on board, the UN refugee agency said on Sunday, without identifying who was responsible.

Drone strikes by both the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been locked in a brutal war since April 2023, have escalated in recent months, often killing dozens at a time.

The UNHCR-operated vehicle "came under drone attack" on Friday while transporting emergency shelter kits to Tawila, home to more than 700,000 displaced people who fled fighting elsewhere in the western Darfur region, AFP quoted the agency as saying.

The driver escaped unhurt, but all supplies were destroyed in the resulting fire, it added.

UNHCR condemned the attack, warning that it would "leave 1,314 families living in desperate conditions in Tawila without shelter" at a time when humanitarian needs are already overwhelming.

More than 127,000 people fled El-Fasher, North Darfur's capital and the army's last stronghold in the region, after it fell to paramilitary forces in October, with reports of mass killings, sexual violence, looting and rape following the takeover.

Fighting has since spread to neighboring Kordofan, now the main theatre of the war, and the southeastern Blue Nile state, raising fears of a longer and increasingly fragmented conflict.

According to the UN, nearly 700 civilians have been killed in drone strikes by both sides since January alone.

UNHCR voiced "deep concern" over the rising use of drones, calling repeated attacks on humanitarian operations "particularly abhorrent".

According to an assessment by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, 28.9 million people, around 62 percent of Sudan's population, are facing acute food insecurity.

That includes 10.2 million who face severe food insecurity, in particular in the wider Darfur region and South Kordofan state.

Famine was declared last year in El-Fasher and Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, with 20 other areas at risk in Darfur and Kordofan, a UN-backed assessment found.

The conflict has already killed tens of thousands, uprooted over 11 million and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.