ABOUT 13,500 Syrians have left Lebanon and returned to Syria since Israeli air strikes began on Monday (23/9). This was said by the Lebanese Minister of Home Affairs on Thursday (26/9).
“There are 13,500 Syrians who have left Lebanon to return to Syria,” Bassam Mawlawi said at a press conference in Beirut.
Lebanon hosts 1.8 million Syrian refugees. About 900,000 of them are registered with the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).
Mawlawi also said that around 70,100 people had fled to 533 shelters in Lebanon due to ongoing Israeli attacks.
“There are also shelters in the Bekaa region, eastern Lebanon, provided for Syrians,” he added.
Israel has been pounding Lebanon since Monday morning. It killed at least 640 people and injured more than 2,500 others, according to data released by the Health Ministry.
Also read: France and the US ask for a Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire for 21 days
The US, European Union and nine other countries called on Israel and Hezbollah late Wednesday to agree to a 21-day ceasefire amid escalating cross-border clashes.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied media reports stating that he had agreed to the ceasefire proposal. He said that he ordered his troops to continue attacking Lebanon with full force.
Netanyahu also said that Israel’s war in Gaza will continue until all war objectives are achieved.
Hezbollah and Israel have been involved in cross-border clashes since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza which killed nearly 41,500 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7.
The international community has warned about an attack on Lebanon, as this could expand the Gaza conflict regionally. (Ant/Z-2)
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