Israeli raids force 100,000 to flee Lebanon for Syria

Some 100,000 people have fled to Syria from Lebanon in a bid to escape Israeli air raids, according to the head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

“The number of people who have crossed into Syria from Lebanon fleeing Israeli airstrikes – Lebanese and Syrian nationals – has reached 100,000,” Filippo Grandi said on X on Monday. “The outflow continues,” he warned.

The number of displaced people crossing the border has more than doubled over the past two days, according to the UN official’s figures.

UNHCR was “present at four crossing points, alongside local authorities and (the Syrian Red Crescent) to support new arrivals,” Grandi added.

According to UNHCR, the mass displacement of people into war-torn Syria began a week ago, on September 23, as the focus of Israel’s air attacks widened from Gaza to include Lebanon, where it says it is targeting the Iran-backed Hezbollah armed group.

Strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon killed the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, on Friday, with several other commanders.

The Israeli bombardment has killed more than 700 people in Lebanon in the past week, including 14 paramedics, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.

By Friday, 30,000 people had crossed into Syria, according to UNHCR. Its representative in Syria, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, said about 80 percent were Syrian nationals and 20 percent Lebanese.

“Most are women and children, although some males have crossed. About half are children and adolescents,” he told reporters.

He stressed those fleeing were “arriving in a country that has been suffering from its own crisis and violence for more than 13 years, as well as from economic collapse”.

“People fleeing the bombing arrive in Syria exhausted, traumatised and in desperate need of help.”