An estimated 472,000 people have fled Lebanon for Syria since September 23, following the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, according to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The figure includes 32,829 Lebanese refugees and 216,369 Syrian refugees who had gone to Lebanon years ago when their country was engulfed in civil war. These Syrians are now returning back to their country since the situation in Lebanon has become highly unstable.

The majority of those who arrived in Syria, had fled from southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces are carrying out intense attacks daily.

Israel’s war on Gaza, following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, has spilled over to the wider Middle East with Tel Aviv now bombing Lebanon in what it says is a military campaign to root out Hezbollah.

At least 2,897 people have been killed so far in Lebanon and 13,402 wounded, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Majority are minors

Among those fleeing Lebanon, 60 percent are under the age of 18, as per the UNHCR report, along with those with special needs, disabilities, and chronic illnesses.

The Syrian authorities have kept an open-border policy for people to enter Lebanon, UNHCR said, which is primarily at four main Syrian official border crossing points – Jdaidet Yabous in rural Damascus, Joussieh, Daboussieh and Jesr Al Qmar in Homs, and Al Arida in Tartous.

Israeli airstrikes have targeted the Syrian border crossing with Lebanon, causing severe road damage and forcing people to cross on foot, carrying their children and belongings.

Clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants first erupted on October 8, 2023, when the Lebanese group began firing rockets into Israel in support of its ally Hamas, a day after the Palestinian militant group launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from Gaza.

Hamas’s attack on Israel resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s relentless military response against Hamas has so far killed 43,314 Palestinians in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry, which the United Nations considers to be reliable.