The crossing, called al-Qaa in Leb and Jussiyeh in Syria, was closed in 2012 as fighting raged between Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
's forces and rebel fighters seeking his overthrow.
Assad's regime has since reclaimed most of the territory once held by the rebels, thanks to a Russian military campaign in support of his forces and deep divisions among the rebels.
Jihadists from the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group had moved into the border area but were pushed out in offensives by regime forces in Syria and the Lebanese Army and
Hizbullah...
Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as
The Resistanceand purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
on Leb's side of the frontier.
Ceremonies were held Thursday on both sides of the al-Qaa/Jussiyeh crossing, which is set to re-open on Friday morning.
It was the only one of the five crossings between Leb and Syria that was permanently closed by the war.
The head of Leb's General Security agency, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, said the re-opening of the crossing was a moment for celebration after it was closed by "terrorism that targeted the entire region."
The mainly Christian al-Qaa area in Leb was targeted several times in cross-border attacks, including suicide kabooms in June last year that killed five people.