Israeli strike cuts off road that thousands use to flee Lebanon: Minister

The powerful attack created a 4-metre wide crater on the border with Syria

An Israeli strike on Friday morning hit near Lebanon's Masnaa border crossing with Syria, cutting off a road used by hundreds of thousands of people to flee Israeli bombardments in recent days, Lebanon Transport Minister Ali Hamieh said.

Hamieh said the strike hit right after the border crossing, still within Lebanese territory, creating a 4-metre wide crater.

An Israel Defence Forces (IDF) military spokesman had accused Hezbollah on Thursday of using the crossing to transport military equipment into Lebanon.

"The IDF 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," IDF 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.