Syrian Alawite men, women, and children cross the al-Kabir River, which separates northern Lebanon from Syria, to reach Akkar, on March 10, 2025, after massacres on the Syrian coast. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L’Orient-Le Jour)
BEIRUT — Media reports claiming that Hezbollah built houses for Shiite and Alawite Syrian refugees in the Hermel region in the Bekaa in recent months drew criticism against the party. The backlash comes at a time when many Lebanese homes remain in ruins following last year's war with Israel, and while pressure mounts from the public and politicians for Syrian refugees to return home.While the mayor of Hermel, Ali Taha, told L'Orient Today Friday that the municipality built the houses mentioned by the reports for Lebanese people who left Syria after the fall of the Assad regime, Ali Hamadeh, head of an anti-Hezbollah political movement called "Qarar Baalbek al-Hermel," said that the party built these camps for Syrian refugees. More on the dynamics The ever-shifting sands of Syrian refugees in Lebanon Following the ouster of former...
BEIRUT — Media reports claiming that Hezbollah built houses for Shiite and Alawite Syrian refugees in the Hermel region in the Bekaa in recent months drew criticism against the party. The backlash comes at a time when many Lebanese homes remain in ruins following last year's war with Israel, and while pressure mounts from the public and politicians for Syrian refugees to return home.While the mayor of Hermel, Ali Taha, told L'Orient Today Friday that the municipality built the houses mentioned by the reports for Lebanese people who left Syria after the fall of the Assad regime, Ali Hamadeh, head of an anti-Hezbollah political movement called "Qarar Baalbek al-Hermel," said that the party built these camps for Syrian refugees. More on the dynamics The ever-shifting sands of Syrian refugees in Lebanon Following the ouster of...