Laravel .htaccess rewrite and apache2 Location directive - .htaccess

Question

I am trying to restrict access to my Laravel 5.3 app with Apache.
My app is available internally but receives post backs from various external sources. There is a port forward set up with NAT disabled so I can tell internal from external requests.
All URL's should show a 403 except if example.com/api/external/... is the URL. I have the following htaccess (default for Laravel 5.3)
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
<IfModule mod_negotiation.c>
Options -MultiViews
</IfModule>
RewriteEngine On
# Redirect Trailing Slashes If Not A Folder...
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ /$1 [L,R=301]
# Handle Front Controller...
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]
# Handle Authorization Header
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Authorization} .
RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]
my vhost config
<Directory /var/www/mailer/public/>
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
</Directory>
<Location />
Order deny,allow
deny from all
allow from 10.64.1.0/24
allow from 10.64.20.0/24
</Location>
<Location /api/external/smsPost>
Allow from all
</Location>
Whenever I access any URL from an external address I still get the 403 even on the allowed location.
You don't have permission to access /index.php on this server.
I think because it has /index.php even on example.com/api/external/smsPost that it is an issue with htaccess and the location directive not working for this purpose. Is there any way I can achieve what I need with this directive?
Many thanks.

Answer 1

Why don't you use a laravel middleware and bind it to your restricted routes?
public function handle($request, Closure $next)
{
if(Route::getCurrentRoute()->getPath() == "api/external/")
return response('You don't have permission to access /index.php on this server.', 403);
// return the $next closure, so other Middlewares can run
return $next($request);
}