Tens of thousands are fleeing Lebanon for Syria

People who sought protection in Lebanon before the war in Syria are forced to return to the unknown. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has little hope for a ceasefire.

The effects of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon are forcing tens of thousands of people to flee. Significantly more than 30,000 people have fled Lebanon to Syria since the serious Israeli attacks began, the United Nations said.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah continued its almost daily rocket fire on cities and towns in Israel. According to their own statements, the Shiite militia allied with Iran wants to support Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the fight against Israel and achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza war.

For a long time, Israel shot back to a similar extent. However, the country has massively increased its airstrikes in Lebanon this week. According to authorities, there have already been around 700 deaths in Lebanon as a result; 25 people have died on Friday alone.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted negatively to calls for a three-week ceasefire made by the USA, Germany and other countries when he arrived in New York for the UN general debate.

Netanyahu said his country would continue to attack Hezbollah until Israelis evacuated from the northern border could return home safely. In his speech, he reiterated that Israel faces “savage enemies who seek our destruction. And we must defend ourselves against these savage murderers.” His office had previously denied that Netanyahu had given the green light for a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

The US government, however, emphasized that the demand for a ceasefire had been coordinated with Israel. The statement was “not simply written in a vacuum,” said White House communications director John Kirby, “but also with Israel itself.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the international community of incompetence and failure. He warned that his country would not remain indifferent in the event of an all-out war. He also called for arms and trade sanctions against Israel.

Iran is considered the main supporter of the Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, observers believe it is unlikely that Tehran will come to its aid in the event of war. Iran’s new government under President Massoud Peseschkian is struggling with a severe economic crisis and is trying to reconnect with the West.

Tehran’s allies also include the Houthi militia in Yemen, which claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on Tel Aviv. According to the Israeli military, the rocket was intercepted.

Of the people who fled to Syria from Lebanon, around 80 percent are Syrian citizens, the others predominantly Lebanese, said Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, representative of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Syria. “Both Syrians and Lebanese are moving from a country at war to a country that has faced crises and conflict for 13 years,” said Vargas Llosa. “It’s hard to imagine what an incredibly difficult decision this is.”

According to the UN, there were already 110,000 internally displaced people in Lebanon before the recent escalation caused by the conflict with Israel. 118,000 have been added since last week, said Imran Riza, the UN humanitarian coordinator in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Hezbollah said it fired rockets at the Israeli city of Tiberias and other towns on the Sea of ​​Galilee. The Israeli army said most of the ten projectiles were intercepted. One man was slightly injured by falling rocket debris.

According to the Israeli army, four drones flying in from Lebanon were shot down near the border town of Rosh Hanikra on the Mediterranean. The port city of Haifa had previously been attacked with rockets. The air force attacked the launch pad of these rockets and dozens of other Hezbollah targets.

Israel wants its citizens to be able to live in peace and security in the north in the long term. Since there is no trust in the desire for peace of Hezbollah, which, like Hamas and Iran, denies Israel the right to exist, the Israeli government is betting on a military victory.

The Israeli military fears that in the event of a ceasefire, Hezbollah could recover from the heavy blows of the past few days and weeks and regroup.

Around 60,000 residents of towns near the border have fled the almost daily shelling by Hezbollah. For almost a year they have been living in hotels and guesthouses or with relatives and friends in other parts of Israel. A short-term ceasefire would hardly give the displaced people the security to return to their villages and towns. Netanyahu’s right-wing religious government is under massive pressure to act domestically.