A Key Border Crossing Between Northern Lebanon and Syria Reopened on Monday After Two Years Closed, Restoring a Vital Trade and Travel Route

A key border crossing between northern Lebanon and Syria reopened on Monday after two years of closure, restoring a vital trade and travel route. The Abboudieh-Dabbousieh crossing, linking Lebanon’s Akkar region with Syria’s Homs province, had been closed since November 2024, when it was damaged by an Israeli airstrike. Passenger and commercial traffic has now resumed following extensive repairs, including reconstruction of the bridge between the two countries.

According to Mazen Alloush, director of relations and international cooperation at Syria’s General Authority of Borders and Customs, the crossing will be able to accommodate between 8,000 and 10,000 travelers and 150 to 250 freight trucks each day when fully operational. The reopening is expected to ease pressure on the Masnaa Border Crossing in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley (known as Jdeidet Yabous on the Syrian side), which has handled most of the land traffic while the two northern crossings were closed. The Arida crossing, which connects Lebanon’s Akkar with Syria’s Tartous province, is expected to reopen in December after rehabilitation work.

The reopened crossing offers businesses in northern Lebanon the prospect of renewed trade: it restores a direct link between the region, including the Port of Tripoli, and Syrian industrial facilities in Hassia and the Port of Tartous.