A disagreement escalated on Sunday evening between residents of the village of Aqibieh, south of the city of Saida, and Syrian nationals, reports our correspondent in South Lebanon. Gunshots were heard as individuals set fire to tents in Syrian refugee camps. The Lebanese Army quickly deployed in the Aqibieh-Baissariyeh region to restore calm.

During the Syrian conflict that broke out in 2011, Lebanon hosted a large Syrian community, primarily opposed to the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. With Ahmad al-Sharaa coming to power on Jan. 29, 2025, some of these refugees began returning to Syria, driven by restrictive measures from the Lebanese authorities. But since Thursday, bloody clashes have pitted Syrian security forces against supporters of the former regime in coastal areas of Syria, as well as in the west of the country, pushing hundreds of Syrian families to seek refuge in Lebanon.

According to a count on Sunday by our correspondent in North Lebanon, 4,330 people left Syria for Akkar between Thursday and Saturday.