UN: 250,000 flee from Lebanon to Syria amid Israeli attacks

ISTANBUL

Some 250,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria following Israel’s intensified attacks, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) chief said on Monday.

"I’m at the Syrian-Lebanese border, where a quarter of a million people have crossed since 23 September," Filippo Grandi said on X.

The local authorities, the Syrian Red Crescent, the UN, and partners are working continuously to provide a humane and efficient response to the influx, he added.

On Saturday, Grandi arrived in the region to meet officials, and Syrian and Lebanese nationals, who had fled Lebanon due to Israeli attacks.

Grandi said hundreds of thousands of people are left destitute or displaced by Israeli air strikes.

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing 1,251, injuring 3,618 others, and displacing more than 1.2 million people.

Despite international warnings that the Middle East region was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, Tel Aviv expanded the conflict by launching on Oct. 1 a ground invasion into southern Lebanon.