The Immigration and Passports Directorate of the Syrian regime’s government stated that around 185,000 Syrians and Lebanese were displaced to Syria due to the Israeli war on Lebanon.
The local Al-Watan newspaper reported in its Tuesday morning issue on October 1, quoting a source from the Immigration and Passports Directorate, that the number of Syrians returning to their country reached about 132,000, including around 24,000 who entered on Monday, September 30.
The same source added that the number of Lebanese arrivals to Syrian territories reached approximately 54,000, including about 6,000 Lebanese who entered in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health mentioned that emergency teams dealt with about 1,000 medical cases among the displaced at the Jdaidet Yabous crossing on the Syrian-Lebanese border.
In a related context, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced on Monday that around 100,000 people had crossed from Lebanon to Syria since the escalation of violence in Lebanon.
The UNHCR reported that 60% of these crossers were Syrians and 40% were Lebanese, while the number of children under the age of 18 made up about 60% of the total arrivals to Syria, highlighting a significant number of displaced children.
The UNHCR indicated that it is working on providing transportation means for the most vulnerable families (Syrians and Lebanese) from the border to their destinations in Syria, where approximately 2,500 individuals from the most vulnerable groups received transportation support on September 29.
The United Nations confirmed that it continues to provide essential aid to the returnees, including distributing food, water, and temporary shelter tents.
For its part, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), which is the political umbrella of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), announced the entry of 3,228 people from Lebanon into areas under its control in northeastern Syria.
In a statement on Monday, September 30, AANES said that the returnees entered from the Tabqa crossings southwest of Raqqa and al-Tayha in Manbij, northeastern Aleppo, including 12 Lebanese nationals.
AANES has formed what it called a “crisis cell” to manage the new displaced file from Lebanon.
The Lebanese-Syrian border witnesses daily crossings of Syrians and Lebanese towards Syrian territories following the Israeli military escalation in Lebanon, with some also leaving Syria to other countries like Iraq, Jordan, and Gulf countries.
Lebanon is connected to Syria through six land crossings and is the only country with a land border with Lebanon, apart from the occupied Palestinian border, which is inflamed due to the Israeli escalation and has no crossings for citizen entry and exit.
The number of displaced people is increasing with the rising Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut, and other Lebanese regions, amid expectations of a larger wave of displacement towards Syria with Israel announcing its ground invasion of southern Lebanon.