Lebanese and Syrian defence officials agreed to a ceasefire on Monday night to end two days of fighting along the border, according to Syria's state-run SANA news agency. The Syrian Ministry of Defense stated that the agreement also includes plans to improve coordination and cooperation between the two countries.

Lebanon's president on Monday ordered the military to respond to gunfire coming from the Syrian side of the border. This directive followed intense fighting along the frontier overnight. According to Lebanon's Health Ministry, seven Lebanese citizens lost their lives, and 52 others were injured in the violence, including a 4-year-old girl. Clashes broke out after Syria's interim government accused militants from Lebanon's Hezbollah of entering Syria on Saturday, kidnapping three soldiers, and killing them inside Lebanon. Hezbollah denied any involvement, while some reports suggested that local clans in the border region, known for cross-border smuggling, may have been responsible instead.

The recent cross-border violence was the most serious since former Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted in December. According to the Syrian News Channel, which cited an unnamed Defense Ministry official, the Syrian army shelled Hezbollah positions after Syrian soldiers were killed near the border. However, Hezbollah denied any involvement in a statement released on Sunday. Lebanon's Information Minister Paul Morkos said the country's defence minister informed the Cabinet that the three people killed were smugglers. Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, reported that five Syrian soldiers were killed during the clashes on Monday. Videos circulating online and in local media showed families fleeing toward the Lebanese town of Hermel. Lebanon's state news agency reported that fighting escalated on Monday evening near Hermel.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stated on X that the situation along the eastern and northeastern border is unacceptable and cannot continue. He said he had instructed the Lebanese army to respond to the source of the attacks. Aoun also mentioned that he had asked Lebanon's foreign minister, who was in Brussels for a Syria donors conference, to speak with Syrian officials to help resolve the issue and prevent further escalation. Violence has recently intensified between the Syrian military and armed Lebanese Shiite clans, who are closely linked to Assad's former government. These clashes are centred around Lebanon's Al-Qasr border village. According to Lebanese media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the recent fighting was triggered by abductions involving these clans. Both the Lebanese and Syrian armies have opened communication channels to reduce tensions. Lebanon's military confirmed that it returned the bodies of three Syrians killed in the conflict and has deployed a large number of troops in the area.

On Monday morning, four Syrian journalists embedded with the Syrian army sustained minor injuries when an artillery shell fired from the Lebanese side of the border struck their position. The journalists blamed Hezbollah for the attack. Lebanese media also reported minor clashes at dawn following an attack on a Syrian military vehicle, though the number of casualties remains unclear. Hezbollah legislator Hussein Haj Hassan claimed in an interview with Lebanon's Al Jadeed TV that fighters from Syria crossed into Lebanon and attacked border villages. His constituency, the northeastern Baalbek-Hermel province, has been heavily affected by these clashes. Lebanon has been seeking international help to secure more funding for its military. The country is gradually deploying troops along its northern and eastern borders with Syria, as well as its southern border with Israel. On Monday, UN envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, speaking from Lebanon's southern border, warned the Security Council that the continued presence of Israeli forces on Lebanese soil, along with ongoing Israeli airstrikes, could trigger serious consequences. 

On Monday, Israeli airstrikes targeted several locations in southern Syria, including the city of Daraa. According to the Israeli military, the strikes were aimed at command centres and military sites containing weapons and vehicles from the old Syrian regime, which the new army is reportedly trying to restore for use. Since the fall of Assad, Israeli forces have taken control of parts of southern Syria, claiming it is necessary to protect their border. Syria's Civil Defence reported that the strikes killed three people and injured 14 others, including four children, a woman, and three civil defence volunteers.