Tensions escalate on the southern front as Hezbollah, Israel engage in retaliatory actions Residents of Rmeish celebrate Palm Sunday despite border hostilities BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on a car near the Syrian border killed a man on Sunday, security sources said. The Israeli attack targeted the West Bekaa region for the first time since Hezbollah opened the southern Lebanese front 169 days ago. A drone bombed the car on the road to the town of Al-Suwairi near the Masnaa land border crossing between Lebanon and Syria. The driver, Mahmoud Rajab, a 38-year-old Syrian worker, had both legs amputated and later died in hospital, according to the Lebanese National News Agency. A security source said the car had been carrying plastic boxes collected by Rajab from shops to resell. The source told Arab News that “the drone was aiming for a Jeep driving near the Rapid on Masnaa Road, which leads to the border crossing. It was believed that a Hezbollah official was in the Jeep. However, the missile struck the car, while the Jeep and its passengers survived.” Al-Suwairi is 63.7 km east of Beirut and 56.7 km away from Damascus. The town is Lebanon’s most important legal gateway to Syrian territory. The Western Bekaa region was targeted by Israeli forces shortly after they carried out another attack on a building in Al-Asira neighborhood in the city of Baalbek in northern Bekaa. Four missiles were launched at the building just after midnight on Saturday, causing it to be destroyed. Three people sustained minor injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment. Unlike previous raids that targeted locations on the outskirts or beyond the city limits, this is the first time residential areas in Baalbek have been hit in the conflict. Hezbollah retaliated against the raid on Baalbek by attacking “the missile and artillery base in Yoav and the Keila barracks — the headquarters of the Air and Missile Defense Command — where a Golani Brigade force was training after its return from the Gaza Strip, with more than 60 Katyusha rockets.” A security source said that Hezbollah’s claim “referred in detail to a force from the Golani Brigade that was training after its return from the Gaza Strip,” which showed “Hezbollah’s ability to obtain military intelligence information from the Israeli Army.” On Sunday, Hezbollah reported targeting the Israeli military site of Jal Al-Alam with artillery shells, causing direct hits. Additionally, the group said it also successfully struck spy equipment at Al-Raheb. On Saturday, Hezbollah conducted an aerial attack using two explosive-laden drones, targeting Iron Dome platforms at the Kfar Blum air defense site. In response, Israeli artillery pounded the southern outskirts of Rmeich, as well as the surrounding areas of Kfar Shuba, Tair Harfa, and Alma Al-Shaab. An Israeli warplane conducted a raid on a residence in the border town of Adaisseh. Later that night, airstrikes targeted the headquarters of the Civil Defense, the Amal Movement-affiliated Islamic Risala Scouts Association in Aita Al-Shaab, causing extensive destruction and damaging nearby homes. An Israeli airstrike destroyed an office of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party in Kfar Kila, with no reported casualties. Despite the ongoing hostilities, including Israeli reconnaissance flights in the skies over the south and the Bekaa Valley, Christian communities in southern and Bekaa towns observed Palm Sunday. Residents of Rmeich also took part in Palm Sunday celebrations, with a significant turnout.