Middle East latest: An Israeli airstrike cuts a major highway linking Lebanon with Syria

An Israeli airstrike has cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Friday. The airstrike led to the closure of a road near the Masnaa Border Crossing, from where tens of thousands of people fleeing war in Lebanon have crossed into Syria over the past two weeks.

On Tuesday, Israel began a ground incursion into Lebanon against the Hezbollah militant group while also conducting strikes in Gaza that killed dozens, including children. The Israeli military said nine soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. Israel declared war on the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip in response. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials. Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since then, most of them since Sept. 23, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Here is the latest:

BEIRUT — Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Beirut where he will discuss with Lebanese officials the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Iran is the main backer of Hezbollah and has sent weapons and billions of dollars to the group over the years.

The Iranian official arrived in Lebanon as Israel launched new airstrikes on different parts of Lebanon, including Beirut’s southern suburb, south Lebanon, and the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Araghchi’s visit to Beirut came after Iran launched at least 180 missiles Tuesday into Israel, part of a series of rapidly escalating attacks that threaten to push the Middle East closer to a regionwide war.

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency says an Israeli airstrike has cut a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria.

The agency gave no further details about Friday’s airstrike that led to the closure of a road near the Masnaa Border Crossing, from where tens of thousands of people fleeing war in Lebanon have crossed into Syria over the past two weeks. It’s the first time this major border crossing has been cut off since the beginning of the war.

Lebanese General Security recorded more than 250,000 Syrian citizens and over 80,000 Lebanese citizens crossing into Syrian territory during the last week of September, after Israel launched a heavy bombardment of southern and eastern Lebanon.

Dama Post, a pro-government Syrian media outlet, said Israeli warplanes fired two missiles and damaged the road between Masnaa Border Crossing in Lebanon and the Syrian crossing point of Jdeidet Yabous.

There are half a dozen border crossings between the two countries and most of them remain open. Lebanon’s minister of public works said all border crossings between Lebanon and Syria work under the supervision of the state.

Hezbollah is believed to have received much of its weapons from Iran via Syria. The Lebanese group has a presence on both sides of the border where it fights alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.

SYDNEY — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday condemned the Iranian ambassador’s comments praising a recently slain Hezbollah leader, but rejected opposition advice to expel the envoy.

Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi described Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by an Israeli missile strike in September in Lebanon, as a “remarkable leader" on social media.

“The government condemns any support for terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah. We condemn the ambassador’s comments,” Albanese told reporters in Sydney.

“Australia has maintained a relationship with Iran since 1968 that has been continuous. Not because we agree with the regime, but because it’s in Australia’s national interest,” Albanese added.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton, who could become prime minister at elections due by May, called for Sadeghi to be expelled over his post. Dutton described Sadeghi’s words as “completely and utterly at odds with what is in our country’s best interests.”

Sadeghi did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Australia officially rebuked Sadeghi in August for endorsing Hamas spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin’s hope that “wiping out the Zionist plague out of the holy lands of Palestine happens no later than 2027."

Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese citizen Ali Zeineddine, left, greets his brother Hussein arriving from Lebanon, after an Israeli air strike killed various members of their family, at Sao Paulo International airport, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Flames rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A volunteer of the Russian Cultural Center entertains displaced children at a school in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Flames and smoke rise from a building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, as Rafik Hariri International airport is seen in the background, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese citizen Ali Zeineddine, third from left, waits with family for his brother arriving from Lebanon at Sao Paulo International airport, after an Israeli air strike killed various members of their family, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Flames and smoke rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Hezbollah paramedic walks between debris after an airstrike hit an apartment in a multistory building, in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher Friday after worsening tensions in the Middle East sent stocks lower on Wall Street while boosting crude prices.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.2% to finish at 38,635.62. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.7% to 8,150.00. South Korea's Kospi added 0.4% to 2,570.97. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 2.1% to 22,568.48. Trading was closed in Shanghai for a holiday.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged down to 146.11 Japanese yen from 146.83 yen. The euro inched up to $1.1035 from $1.1034.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who took office on Tuesday, gave a policy speech that promised salary increases for workers that exceed inflation, as well as an economic package that will give support for low-income households. He also said he will promote investment to create “a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution.”

The Bank of Japan has begun very gradually raising its benchmark rate from near zero. It now stands at around 0.25%. Expectations of rising rates had pushed the yen higher after the Liberal Democrats elected Ishiba to head the governing party and thus serve as prime minister. But the yen has fallen back against the dollar in the past two days after officials sent clear signals that they did not favor further rate hikes at this time.

A cheaper yen could work as a plus for Japan's giant exporters like Nintendo and Toyota by boosting the value of their overseas earnings. But it raises the cost of imports of oil and other vital commodities, pushing domestic prices higher and pinching household spending.

Stocks sank Wednesday on Wall Street as oil prices kept rising while the world waits to see how Israel will respond to Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 5,699.94 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 42,011.59. The Nasdaq composite edged less than 0.1% lower to 17,918.48.

Benchmark U.S. crude lost 2 cents to $73.69 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 2 cents to $77.60 a barrel. On Thursday, Brent leaped 5% after starting the week below $72. It’s potentially on track for its biggest weekly percentage gain in nearly two years.

The rise came after President Joe Biden suggested on Thursday that U.S. and Israeli officials were discussing a possible strike by Israel against Iranian oil facilities.

“We’re in discussion of that,” Biden said to reporters. He added: “I think that would be a little ... anyway,” without finishing the thought. Biden also said he doesn’t expect Israel to retaliate immediately against Iran.

Iran is a major oil producer, and a broadening of the fighting could choke off Iran’s oil flows to China and also affect neighboring countries that are integral to crude supplies. Helping to keep prices in check, though, are signals that oil inventories remain ample at the moment. Brent crude fell to its lowest price in nearly three years last month.

A report Thursday showed growth for real estate, health care and other U.S. services businesses accelerated to its strongest pace since February 2023.

A separate report suggested the number of layoffs across the United States remains relatively low. Slightly more workers filed for unemployment benefits last week, but the number remains low compared with history.

Outside of this week’s worries about the Middle East, the dominant question hanging over Wall Street has been whether the job market will continue to hold up after the Federal Reserve earlier held interest rates at a two-decade high. The Fed wanted to press the brake hard enough on the economy to stamp out high inflation.

Stocks are near their records because of hopes the U.S. economy will indeed continue to grow, now that the Fed is cutting interest rates. The Fed last month lowered its main interest rate for the first time in more than four years and indicated more cuts will arrive through next year.

AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.

FILE - People pass the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 1, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader watches monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)