More than 100,000 people flee Lebanon to Syria escaping Israeli bombings, UN warns

The United Nations refugee chief says some 100,000 people have fled Lebanon to Syria amid relentless Israeli aerial attacks on Beirut and other parts of the country.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said on social media platform X on Monday that those fleeing included both Lebanese and Syrian nationals.

The UN agency is assisting those arriving at four crossing points, he added.

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

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati says Israel's massive bombing campaign has already displaced as many as one million people from their homes across Lebanon.

“It is the largest displacement movement that may have happened,” Mikati was quoted as saying.

Displaced families spent the night on benches at Zaitunay Bay, a string of restaurants and cafes on Beirut’s waterfront.

The local authorities have converted schools across the country into shelters in an effort to assist, while many living in areas further from the bombing have opened their homes to relatives and strangers fleeing the danger.

“We were forced to leave Syria and come to Lebanon… where we were received with great hospitality. Now we are going back to my country, Syria,” Mohammed Saleh, a Syrian refugee in Lebanon, told media outlets of his double displacement.

“Lebanon is also our country and we feel very sad to leave. The Israelis have attacked and destroyed our second country Lebanon. I cry because of the children who were killed by the Israelis,” Saleh added.

Israel committing ‘domicide’ in Lebanon by targeting civilian buildings: UN rapporteur

The Israeli regime is committing “domicide” in Lebanon by indiscriminately targeting civilian areas, says the United Nations rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.

President Bashar al-Assad last week said the newly formed government of Syria would prioritize assistance to the people of Lebanon fleeing Israel’s barbarism.

The president issued a decree forming a new government under Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali.

Addressing the newly formed cabinet, Assad instructed the ministers on Wednesday that Damascus has to “stand by our friends in Lebanon in all fields and in all sectors, without exception and hesitation.”

A wave of Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon have killed more than 1,030 people, including 156 women and 87 children, in less than two weeks.

Lebanon: Israeli forces’ airstrikes kill 14 medics in 2 days

Israeli regime forces’ massive airstrikes kill 14 medics in Lebanon in two days.

Meanwhile, Lebanese officials have asked people who lost relatives in recent Israeli airstrikes to provide DNA samples to match with unidentified remains.

Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces on Monday called on residents across the country to visit police stations with an identity card to give their samples.

It said more than one person from each family should provide a sample, if possible.

Hezbollah fires rocket salvos at Israeli targets; sirens sound across northern occupied territories

Dozens of rockets are launched from Lebanon toward the northern Israeli-occupied territories, setting off warning sirens in the area.

In remarks on Monday, Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary-General, Naim Qassemsaid Israeli forces were committing massacres against civilians. He also accused the United States of being an accomplice in Israeli crimes. “The US is a partner with Israel, through unlimited military."

Israeli raids in Lebanon have killed at least 136 people in the last 24 hours. Relatives of the victims say most of them were women and children.

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