The primary international route to Syria was closed off by an Israeli strike on Friday, according to Lebanon. Israel had claimed that Hezbollah was using the main land border crossing in the small Mediterranean nation to smuggle weapons.

Israel has not responded to the hit. In recent days, 310,000 people, primarily Syrians, have fled the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon in search of somewhat safer conditions in neighbouring Syria.

It comes one week after Hezbollah killed its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and after a heavy night of shelling of the militant organization’s primary stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to a US news website.

Israel’s attacks are getting more intense as it considers taking revenge for Iran’s missile strike, which is supported by Hezbollah.

Buildings trembled as President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that the US was “discussing” potential Israeli strikes on Iranian oil facilities. This announcement caused oil prices to spike five percent. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, will deliver a rare sermon on Friday, his first since his nation’s missile attack on Israel.

About a year after the worst attack on Israel in its history on October 7, which was carried out by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Israel declared that it was refocusing its efforts on safeguarding its border with Lebanon.

Nearly a year had passed since Hezbollah began its low-intensity attacks on Israel in support of its comrades in Gaza, which resulted in 60,000 Israelis being forced to leave their homes in the country’s north. This declaration was made last month.

The Lebanese health ministry reports that since the escalation on September 23, Israel’s bombing in Lebanon has resulted in over 1,000 fatalities and driven hundreds of thousands of people to from their homes in a nation already engulfed in an economic crisis.

Buildings in Beirut were rocked by the strikes that occurred overnight, and AFP reporters there reported hearing progressively louder explosions.

Axios, a US news outlet, reported that one of Israel’s recent strikes in Beirut targeted Hashem Safieddine, a possible replacement for Hezbollah head Nasrallah, who was killed a week ago. The article cited three Israeli officials who were not named.

The report was not verified by the Israeli military.

On Thursday, the Israeli military stated it had targeted “targets belonging to

Beirut is home to Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters.

Its spokesperson speaking Arabic, Avichay Adraee, charged that Hezbollah was smuggling weapons into Syria through the primary international border crossing from Lebanon.

Syria and Israel, with which Hezbollah is at war, border coastal Lebanon.

Hezbollah’s primary source of guns and other material from Iran has historically been Syria, with whom it is affiliated.

Since Masnaa is the primary overland exit from the nation, thousands of people who are unable to fly out could become stuck as a result of the strike.

Late on Thursday, a warehouse close to the capital’s airport was the target of another attack, according to a source close to Hezbollah.

Residents in Beirut were “scared for our children, and this war is going to be long,” according to 35-year-old Fatima Salah, a displaced nurse.

This week, Israel declared that, following days of intense shelling of Hezbollah-held regions throughout the nation, its forces had begun ground operations into portions of southern Lebanon, the group’s stronghold.

On Thursday, Israel ordered the “immediate” evacuation of over 20 towns including the city of Nabatiyeh from Lebanon.

According to Hezbollah, two explosives were detonated against advancing soldiers as it repelled Israeli troops on the border.

Although there have been many appeals for moderation, months of previous calls to stop the fighting in Gaza have not resulted in a ceasefire.

1,205 individuals in Israel died as a result of Hamas’s attack on October 7, the majority of whom being civilians, according to an AFP count based on

Israeli government figures, among them captives who died in captivity.

The health ministry of the Hamas-run enclave in Gaza has released numbers showing that at least 41,788 individuals have died as a result of Israel’s retaliatory offensive, the most of them were civilians. The numbers have been deemed credible by the United Nations.

99 deaths during the preceding 24 hours were included in the ministry’s toll on Thursday.