Well over 30,000 people, mainly Syrians, have crossed into Syria from Lebanon in the past 72 hours, the UN refugee agency said on Friday, amid an escalating conflict between Israeli forces and Hezbollah that has killed hundreds of people in Lebanon.
About 80% of those crossings are Syrians and about 20% are Lebanese, said the UNHCR representative in Syria, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, adding that about half are children and adolescents, and that men are making the crossing in smaller numbers than women.
“They are crossing from a country at war to one that has faced a crisis conflict for 13 years,” an extremely difficult choice, he told a news conference.
“We will have to see over the next few days how many more do so,” added the representative.
Israel rejected a push by allies for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon and vowed to keep fighting Hezbollah “until victory”, ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s expected address to the UN General Assembly on Friday.
The United States, France and other allies unveiled the 21-day truce on Wednesday, after President Joe Biden and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
But Israeli leader Netanyahu flatly rejected the ceasefire proposal on Thursday, ordering the military to continue “fighting with full force”.