![Syrians in Lebanon gather on vehicles as they head towards the Al-Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria, after sixty-one years of Baath Party rule in Syria collapses on Sunday when, the capital Damascus fell out of the hands of regime control on December 8, 2024 [Murat Şengül/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AA-20241208-36428757-36428752-SYRIANS_IN_LEBANON_FLOCK_TO_ALMASNAA_BORDER_CROSSING_TO_RETURN_HOME.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
Syrian authorities announced yesterday evening the reopening of the Al-Arida border crossing with Lebanon from tomorrow, ahead of the Eid Al-Adha holiday.
“We kindly inform travellers that the Al-Arida border crossing with Lebanon will open for passenger movement on Tuesday morning,” Syria’s Land and Sea Ports General Authority said in a statement.
The authority added that the decision was made “despite ongoing restoration and maintenance work, in order to facilitate the movement of residents during the Eid Al-Adha holiday,” which begins on Friday.
Located between the village of Al-Arida in Lebanon’s northern Akkar Governorate and Syria’s western Tartus Governorate, the crossing has undergone maintenance by Syrian authorities as part of rehabilitation efforts.
Beirut has also carried out repairs on the Lebanese side of the crossing after it was targeted by Israeli air strikes during the latest conflict between Lebanon and Israel last September.
No official statement has been issued by Lebanese authorities regarding the reopening.
The move is expected to ease travel for families and trade between the two countries during the holiday period.
Lebanon and Syria are connected by six official border crossings
Unless otherwise stated in the article above, this work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If the image(s) bear our credit, this license also applies to them. What does that mean? For other permissions, please contact us.
