Today’s news round on Syria highlights the ongoing regional volatility, with more than 22,000 people fleeing from Lebanon into Syria amid escalating Israeli strikes. The strikes targeted Hezbollah militants allied with Hamas, resulting in casualties that included both Syrians and Lebanese. At the same time, Israel’s military struck infrastructure on the Lebanon-Syria border, claiming it was used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons. Meanwhile, international tensions continue with reports of a ship carrying explosive Russian fertilizer floating near Kent, and U.S. sanctions targeting a Syrian shipping magnate involved in Iranian oil smuggling. These events underscore the complex and fragile dynamics at play across Syria, Lebanon, and beyond.
More Than 22,000 Flee To Syria As Israel Strikes Lebanon: Syria Security Sources
More than 22,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria this week via two border crossings, Syrian security sources said Thursday, as Israel pounded Lebanon in a fresh cross-border escalation, AFP reported.
“More than 6,000 Lebanese and around 15,000 Syrians” have entered Syrian through the Jdeidet Yabus border, also known in Lebanon as Masnaa crossing, said one security source requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
A second security source reported “around 1,000 Lebanese and some 500 Syrians have passed” through another crossing.
More than 774,000 Syrian refugees are registered with the United Nations in Lebanon, but the tiny country says it hosts some two million of them — the world’s highest ratio of refugees per capita.
Having fled more than a decade of war at home since 2011, some Syrians have now been among the victims of the latest Israeli strikes on Lebanon, nearly a year into cross-border exchanges between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants allied with Hamas in Gaza.
Lebanon’s health ministry said Thursday that 19 Syrians were among 20 people killed in an overnight Israeli strike in Yunin in the Bekaa valley, after the Israeli military said it hit Hezbollah targets in eastern Lebanon.
Israel jets hit bridge at Lebanon-Syria border crossing, says Hezbollah using it to smuggle arms
Israeli fighter jets struck infrastructure on the Syria-Lebanon border which the IDF says was used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons.
The military says the weapons smuggled into Lebanon from Syria are being used against Israel.
Lebanese transport minister Ali Hamieh tells Reuters the strike hit the Syrian end of a small bridge that provides a crossing into Lebanon.
Hamieh said he did not immediately know whether the crossing was still usable.
Ship packed with explosive Russian fertiliser floating off Kent
A Maltese-flagged cargo ship, Ruby, is floating off the coast of Kent, carrying 20,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, seven times the amount that caused the deadly Beirut explosion in 2020, The Times reported.
The ship, linked to Russia, was denied entry to several ports, including Tromso in Norway and Danish waters, due to safety concerns. Ruby has a cracked hull and rudder issues and requires a tugboat for navigation.
Despite seeking repairs, authorities in Norway, Lithuania, and Malta have rejected the vessel due to the explosive cargo. Experts warn that while ammonium nitrate is generally safe during transport, the ship’s condition poses environmental risks.
The ship is owned by a Dubai-registered company with ties to Russia.
US Treasury Sanctions Syrian Shipping Magnate Involved in Iranian Oil Smuggling
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on over a dozen entities and vessels involved in the illicit shipment of Iranian oil products, part of a broader U.S. efforts to dismantle financial networks supporting terrorism, gcaptain.com reported.
The latest action targets operations benefiting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and Hizballah, two organizations previously designated as terrorist groups.
The sanctions specifically implicate four vessels linked to Syrian shipping magnate Abdul Jalil Mallah and his brother Luay al-Mallah. Since Abdul Jalil’s designation in June 2021, Luay al-Mallah has continued to leverage their shipping network to support Iran’s destabilizing activities and its proxies.
“Iran continues to rely heavily on the illicit sale of oil and liquid petroleum gas by the IRGC-QF and Lebanese Hizballah to fund its terrorist proxies and destabilizing activities,” said Acting Under Secretary Bradley T. Smith. He also affirmed the Treasury’s commitment to “disrupting the networks of shippers, brokers, and buyers that facilitate these schemes.”
The Mallah family’s shipping network, including vessels like CONFIDENCE P, NOVA, RIVAL, and TIYARA, has been crucial in facilitating illegal trade between Syria and Iran, directly benefiting the IRGC-QF and Hizballah. Luay al-Mallah, now designated for his role in these operations, also owns Oryx Denizcilik Limited Sirketi, a Turkey-based company directed by his sanctioned brother.
