Lebanese Minister: Israeli Strike Closes Off Road Used to Flee Lebanon to Syria

Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, Lebanon November 1, 2018. Picture taken November 1, 2018. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, Lebanon November 1, 2018. Picture taken November 1, 2018. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
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Lebanese Minister: Israeli Strike Closes Off Road Used to Flee Lebanon to Syria

Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, Lebanon November 1, 2018. Picture taken November 1, 2018. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, Lebanon November 1, 2018. Picture taken November 1, 2018. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi

An Israeli strike on Friday morning near Lebanon's Masnaa border crossing with Syria cut off a road used by hundreds of thousands of people to flee Israeli bombardments in recent days, Lebanon Transport Minister Ali Hamieh told Reuters.
Hamieh said the strike hit inside Lebanese territory near the border crossing, creating a four-meter (12 feet) wide crater.
An Israeli military spokesman had accused Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on Thursday of using the crossing to transport military equipment into Lebanon.
Israel “will not allow the smuggling of these weapons and will not hesitate to act if forced to do so, as it has done throughout this war," Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.
Hamieh had said at a press conference on Thursday that the crossing was subject to the authority of the Lebanese state.
According to Lebanese government statistics, more than 300,000 people - a vast majority of them Syrian - had crossed from Lebanon into Syria over the last 10 days to escape escalating Israeli bombardment.



Khamenei: Iran Will Not Delay Nor Rush to Confront Israel, Resistance Won’t Back Down

This image grab from a handout video provided by Iran Press on October 4, 2024, shows Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivering a rare Friday sermon at a mosque in Tehran. (Photo by IRAN PRESS / AFP)
This image grab from a handout video provided by Iran Press on October 4, 2024, shows Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivering a rare Friday sermon at a mosque in Tehran. (Photo by IRAN PRESS / AFP)
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Khamenei: Iran Will Not Delay Nor Rush to Confront Israel, Resistance Won’t Back Down

This image grab from a handout video provided by Iran Press on October 4, 2024, shows Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivering a rare Friday sermon at a mosque in Tehran. (Photo by IRAN PRESS / AFP)
This image grab from a handout video provided by Iran Press on October 4, 2024, shows Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivering a rare Friday sermon at a mosque in Tehran. (Photo by IRAN PRESS / AFP)

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Friday that Iran's recent missile attack on Israel was "legal and legitimate" and was the minimum punishment for Israel's "crimes."

Khamenei told a huge crowd during Friday prayer sermons that Iran will not "procrastinate nor act hastily to carry out its duty" in confronting Israel, adding that the missile attack on Israel was "legal and legitimate."

Iran launched a barrage of missiles against Israel on Tuesday in what it said was retaliation for Israeli strikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last Friday and the assassination of Hamas' chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.

Iran blames Israel for Haniyeh's killing. Israeli officials have not claimed responsibility.

US President Joe Biden said on Thursday Israel's response to Iran’s barrage of missiles could include a strike on Iran's oil facilities.

Khamenei also said on Friday that the US and its allies were preserving the security of Israel to make it an energy exporting gate from the region to the West, but that the resistance in the region would not back down against Israel.