During the night (December 6), the IDF attacked Hezbollah’s weapons smuggling routes from Syria to Lebanon. A notable strike was carried out at the Al-Arida crossing. The crossing is between the village of Arida in the Akkar district in northern Lebanon and the Syrian Tartus district. This crossing serves to pass goods, focusing on goods from the Syrian ports in northwest Syria (Tartus/Baniyas/Latakia) and from the Lebanese port of Tripoli. Before the beginning of the Syrian civil war, the crossing was also used for tourist traffic between the two countries. During the civil war, it served as a transit point for Syrian refugees entering Lebanon. The location of this crossing is optimal for transferring weapons, military equipment, and even Iranian oil arriving via the maritime route of the Iranian corridor (with an emphasis on the port of Baniyas). From there, it is transferred south through the land routes on highways M1 and 2 to Lebanon via the crossing. The crossing can also serve as an alternative route if weapons come from the Homs area (via the M1 lateral highway from east to west) and cannot be brought through the Al-Qusayr area or one of the other northern crossings. The northern crossings may gain renewed importance in the near future, depending on the success of the rebels’ advance south towards Homs. Consequently, Iran and Hezbollah will likely accelerate the transfer of weapons to Lebanon to prevent them from falling into the hands of the rebels.
