BEIRUT: The Lebanese General Security said on Monday that there had been a surge of Syrians attempting to cross into Lebanon, facilitated by the absence of Syrian authorities at the Jdeidet Yabous border crossing.

In a statement, the Lebanese General Security said that some Syrians had tried to bypass legal entry requirements and make their way into Lebanon at the Masnaa border crossing in eastern Lebanon.

“In cooperation with the army and internal security forces, the General Security regulated the situation and returned (Syrians) to Syrian territory, allowing only those meeting legal entry criteria to proceed,” the statement added.

The Army Command deployed personnel to address people heading toward Lebanon.

An estimated 150 Syrian families are reportedly waiting at the Masnaa crossing, seeking refuge in Lebanon, according to a security source in the border area.

The Land Border Regiment, Army Intelligence, and Intervention Regiment detained 340 Syrians who entered through smuggling routes between Masnaa and Wadi Anjar on the Lebanese-Syrian border.

This mountainous and rugged area features complex overlapping terrains navigable only by experienced smugglers familiar with the region.

On Monday, Lebanese prisoner Souhail Hamawi — who had spent 33 years in Syrian prisons — returned to his hometown of Chekka following the opening of regime jails after the fall of President Bashar Assad.

A large crowd welcomed Hamawi with ululations and the scattering of rice, led by parish priest Fr. Ibrahim Chahine and local MP Adib Abdel Massih.
Hamawi is the second Lebanese detainee to return to Lebanon since the collapse of the Assad regime.

These developments have sparked hope for the return of other missing people and detainees, whose numbers are estimated to be in the hundreds.

For years, it was believed that they had either been killed or that the regime denied having any knowledge of their whereabouts.
Caretaker Justice Minister Henry Khoury convened a meeting with members of a committee looking into the cases of detainees in Syrian prisons, chaired by Judge Ziad Abu Haidar. 

It was decided that the committee should reach out to the security forces to ascertain whether they possess any information that could be useful for the Syrian prison detainee file and to verify the names of individuals released from various jails over the past two days.

On the southern border of Lebanon, an Israeli airstrike targeted a vehicle on the road to the city of Bint Jbeil, near a Lebanese Army checkpoint, resulting, according to a statement from the Army Command, in “the death of a civilian and injuries to four military personnel with moderate wounds.”

The towns of Zabqin and Majdel Zoun in the Tyre district were subjected to artillery shelling, resulting in damage to two houses.

A Lebanese citizen received a phone call from the Israeli side requesting the evacuation of shops in a commercial center located in Jdeideh Marjayoun, near the Lebanese Army barracks.

Consequently, the commercial center and nearby homes and shops were evacuated, and stringent security measures were implemented.
Israeli forces released brothers Samer and Samir Sinan, who were detained on Sunday while tending to their livestock in the village of Ghajar.

The operation to return the captives was conducted in coordination with the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL through the occupied section of the village of Ghajar. 

In other developments, the Israeli military said on Monday that four soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon, the first deaths announced in the area since the start of a ceasefire with Hezbollah nearly two weeks ago.

The four reservists, all from the same battalion, “fell in combat” on Sunday, the military said. 

Israeli forces had fired machine guns at dawn toward the outskirts of Naqoura and Ras Al-Naqoura.

On Sunday, they entered a minefield in the area, triggering an explosion.

The Israeli military also prohibited “Lebanese residents from moving south to a line of villages, including Shebaa, Habariyeh, Marjayoun, Arnoun, Yohmor, Qantara, Shaqra, Braashit, Yater, and Al-Mansouri, until further notice.”

Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire after nearly a year of war. As part of the deal, Israeli troops will remain in southern Lebanon for 60 days while the Lebanese Army deploys to the area.