The Immigration and Passports Directorate in the Syrian regime’s government mentioned today, October 3, that approximately 200,000 Syrians have returned to their country, alongside 72,000 Lebanese, due to the Israeli war on Lebanon.
The local Al-Watan newspaper reported, citing a source in the Immigration and Passports Directorate, that the number of Syrians returning to their country reached about 197,000, including approximately 15,000 who entered on Wednesday, October 2.
The source added that the number of Lebanese arriving in Syrian territories was around 72,000, including about 6,000 Lebanese who entered within the past 24 hours.
The Prime Minister, Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, stated that his government, under the directives of the regime’s president, Bashar al-Assad, is providing all support to the Lebanese displaced, through rapid response and modifying some procedures to ease their reception, ensuring their needs and monitoring their situation in their places of residence.
In the same context, the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported that the total number of displaced people in Lebanon has risen to 1.2 million people, most of whom moved to homes in other areas or stayed with relatives or in hotels and rented houses within Lebanon, in addition to others who traveled by air or crossed into Syria.
Commenting on the displacement of Syrians to their country, the head of the Lebanese Forces Party, Samir Geagea, noted that “the return of Syrian refugees from Lebanon proves the existence of safe areas in Syria,” calling on the United Nations to give utmost priority to assisting displaced Lebanese.
Meanwhile, Iraqi authorities announced on Wednesday, October 2, that they received 5,000 Lebanese citizens who left their country over the past ten days due to the Israeli bombardment.
The spokesperson for the Security Media Cell in Iraq, Brigadier General Miqdad Miri, stated that Iraq received approximately 5,000 Lebanese through Baghdad and Najaf airports and the al-Qa’im border crossing with Syria.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) mentioned that the number of children under the age of 18 is about 60% of the entire influx to Syria, highlighting a significant presence among the displaced children.
The United Nations affirmed that it continues to provide essential assistance to the returnees, including distributing food, water, and rest in temporary tents.
The Lebanese-Syrian border witnesses daily crossings of Syrians and Lebanese towards Syrian lands following the Israeli military escalation in Lebanon, with some also leaving Syria for other countries such as Iraq, Jordan, and the Gulf states.
Lebanon is linked to Syria by six land crossings and is the only country with a land border with Lebanon, aside from the border with the occupied Palestinian territories, which is inflamed due to Israeli escalation, and it has no crossings for citizens’ entry and exit.
The numbers of the displaced continue to rise with increasing Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, and other Lebanese regions, amid expectations of a larger wave of displacement towards Syria with the start of Israel’s ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
The displacement operations come amid ongoing heavy Israeli bombardment on various Lebanese regions, which resulted in 1,928 deaths and 9,290 injuries, according to the latest statistics from the Lebanese News Agency.