More than 540,000 people have fled Lebanon for Syria, according to UNHCR

More than 540,000 people are thought to have left Lebanon for Syria, 63 percent of them Syrians and 37 percent Lebanese, following the escalation of hostilities over the past month between Hezbollah and Israel, according to a report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) published on Tuesday.

In addition, 886,028 Lebanese and Syrians have been displaced within Lebanon, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UNHCR, while the Lebanese authorities claim that the war has displaced 1.2 million people.

In its report, the UNHCR claims that more than 97,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon have been displaced by the ongoing war since October 2023, including more than 80,500 since Sept. 23, 2024, when the fighting intensified. The UNHCR estimates that at least 340,000 Syrian refugees were residing in the regions most affected by the hostilities.

Urgent needs

Since Sept. 23, 2024, more than 413,700 affected Lebanese and refugees have benefited from some type of U.N. cash assistance, and more than 502,300 people in total since October 2023, the U.N. agency assures. In addition, 323,410 essential items including mattresses, blankets, kitchen utensils and solar lamps have been distributed since Sept. 23 to 193,000 displaced persons, 90 percent of whom are Lebanese. UNHCR has also taken charge of the treatment of 190 injured refugees since September, with a total of 226 people treated at the U.N. agency's expense since October 2023.

Since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah just over a year ago, 79,323 affected people have received shelter assistance from UNHCR. The most urgent needs of the displaced today are access to safe shelter, essential items, health care, food, cash assistance and protection services, continues the text, which indicates that those most in need of help are mainly in the regions of Saida, Aley, Beirut and the Western Bekaa.