Hundreds of displaced Syrians left Lebanon for their war-torn homeland Thursday in a repatriation that will reunite them with relatives they have not seen for years. But many of them also are leaving behind loved ones who are staying in the tiny Arab nation that has become home to the highest percentage of refugees in the world.
Syrian refugees gather in their vehicles getting ready to cross into Syria from the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, Thursday, June 28, 2018. About 400 Syrians are expected to make the crossing on Thursday, after having requested permission from the Lebanese and Syrian governments. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Mohammed Suleiman Darwish, 76, was among those who left this border town for Syria with his 9-year-old granddaughter, Israa, who has not seen her parents since 2013 and will meet younger siblings who were born at home while she sought safety in Lebanon.
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Hundreds of displaced Syrians left Lebanon for their war-torn homeland Thursday in a repatriation that will reunite them with relatives they have not seen for years. But many of them also are leaving behind loved ones who are staying in the tiny Arab nation that has become home to the highest percentage of refugees in the world.
Mohammed Suleiman Darwish, 76, was among those who left this border town for Syria with his 9-year-old granddaughter, Israa, who has not seen her parents since 2013 and will meet younger siblings who were born at home while she sought safety in Lebanon.
When Syrian government forces and their allies launched a wide offensive on Syria's Qalamoun region in 2013, young Israa was staying with her paternal grandparents, who decided to take her with them to Lebanon. Israa's parents were in the same village of Suhul but stayed at home as Syrian troops marched in.
"I missed my parents a lot when I lived here," said Israa, who wore blue jeans, a white-and-blue sweater and flip-flops as she sat on the ground next to her grandparents before heading to Syria. "I spoke with them regularly by telephone, but now I even forgot how they look."
The General Security Directorate, which is in charge of foreigners in Lebanon, said in a statement later Thursday that 294 Syrians had headed back. It did not give an explanation but apparently not all those who were registered had departed.
Most are farmers and their families, and some of them rode pickup trucks and tractors.
Darwish and his granddaughter were among a batch of about 300 Syrians crammed into trucks, tractors and other vehicles piled with mattresses and blankets. They began crossing the border for an uncertain future.
A Lebanese soldier stands guard as Syrian refugees gather in their vehicles getting ready to cross into Syria from the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, Thursday, June 28, 2018. Dozens of Syrian refugees in Lebanon have started to cross the border, going back home to war-torn Syria. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
When Syrian government forces and their allies launched a wide offensive on Syria's Qalamoun region in 2013, young Israa was staying with her paternal grandparents, who decided to take her with them to Lebanon. Israa's parents were in the same village of Suhul but stayed at home as Syrian troops marched in.
Now Darwish and Israa are heading back to Suhul.
But he is leaving his 63-year-old wife, Baseema, in Lebanon while he repairs their badly damaged home before she can rejoin him. She will stay in Lebanon with her other son and his family.
Syrian refugees gather in and near their vehicles getting ready to cross into Syria from the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, Thursday, June 28, 2018. Dozens of Syrian refugees in Lebanon have started to cross the border, going back home to war-torn Syria. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
"I missed my parents a lot when I lived here," said Israa, who wore blue jeans, a white-and-blue sweater and flip-flops as she sat on the ground next to her grandparents before heading to Syria. "I spoke with them regularly by telephone, but now I even forgot how they look."
When Israa left Syria in 2013, her younger sister, Aya, was 2. Since then, two other sisters and a brother, Youssef, were born, she said.
"I want to see them today," said the green-eyed girl who seemed excited about the trip.
Darwish's wife said her other son has a job in Lebanon.
"I hope that the war that splits us ends, and we can all gather again in Syria," she said as she put her 9-month-old granddaughter Fatima in her lap.
The small exodus is part of a repatriation program that the Lebanese government says is voluntary — the first batch of refugees to return to Syria from the border town of Arsal this year.
Khaled Abdul-Aziz, a Syrian who heads a committee for the returnees, said 472 Syrians were expected to make the crossing Thursday after requesting permission from the Lebanese and Syrian governments. They are part of a total of 3,194 Syrians who have registered to return, he said, adding that the rest will head back in batches in the coming weeks.
Syrian refugees gather in their vehicles getting ready to cross into Syria from the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, Thursday, June 28, 2018. Dozens of Syrian refugees in Lebanon have started to cross the border, going back home to war-torn Syria. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
The General Security Directorate, which is in charge of foreigners in Lebanon, said in a statement later Thursday that 294 Syrians had headed back. It did not give an explanation but apparently not all those who were registered had departed.
The repatriations come amid a dispute between the government of Lebanon and the U.N.'s refugee agency, which Beirut accuses of trying to discourage refugees from going home. UNHCR rejects the charges.
Lebanon hosts around 1 million registered Syrians — roughly a quarter of Lebanon's population — and officials have said that the country can no longer afford the strain on its fragile economy.
U.N. officials and rights groups have expressed concern over the organized repatriations, calling them premature as violence and a government crackdown continue in Syria.
Lama Fakih, deputy director of the Middle East region for Human Rights Watch, said Syrians are often driven to leave by "oppressive" living conditions in Lebanon, including a lack of residency rights, restrictions on their movement and inability to enroll children in school.
In Arsal, the refugees gathered in the town's Wadi Hmeid area, where a Lebanese security officer checked their IDs against a list before allowing them to cross into Syria.
Sumaya Ramadan, left, sits next to her paralysed 92-year-old uncle Abdul-Moati Abu-Zeid, right, who laid on a mattress not moving or speaking, in a pickup truck getting ready to cross into Syria from the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, Thursday, June 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Most are farmers and their families, and some of them rode pickup trucks and tractors.
The Syrian army, backed by its allies Russia and Iran, has regained more territory from the rebels, Lebanon's government has argued that many areas in Syria have become stable enough for refugees to return.
But the U.N. is more cautious, saying Syria is not yet safe.
Lebanon's general security chief Abbas Ibrahim said Wednesday the UNHCR has been notified about the return of the Syrians "so they can bear their responsibility."
But Lisa Abou Khaled, a spokeswoman for UNHCR in Beirut, said the agency is not organizing the returns. She said the agency's representatives are only present at the border crossings to answer questions. She confirmed that authorities informed them of the repatriations.
"UNHCR, as in previous movements ... will be present at the departure point to attend to any query or any needs the refugees may have as they prepare to leave to Syria," she said.
Mohammed Suleiman Darwish and his granddaughter Israa wait to cross into Syria from the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, Thursday, June 28, 2018. Darwish goes to Syria to give his granddaughter Israa to her parents and fix their home before she follows him. About 400 Syrians are expected to make the crossing on Thursday, after having requested permission from the Lebanese and Syrian governments. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Human Rights Watch's Fakih said research on Syrians in Arsal revealed "oppressive conditions" that led many to return. A similar convoy left Arsal last year for areas held by insurgents in Syria. It was not immediately clear what happened to those who returned.
Arsal Mayor Basil al-Hujeiry said more than 3,000 Syrians have registered to return home from the border town. Syria has asked that the repatriations take place in phases, he added.
The U.N. refugee agency "is fully respectful of the decision of the Lebanese government and we fully respect the decision of the families to return. We don't interfere," said Josep Zapater, head of the UNHCR office in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley.
Some young men have said they don't want to return to Syria for fear of being drafted into the military. Those going back Thursday said they were promised they won't be drafted for six months after their return.
"I am really scared about being drafted to the army, but the situation in Syria now is more safe," said Salah-Eddine Abdul-Aziz, 26, who is heading to his hometown of Fleeta with his wife and son. "All I want is to return to Syria and not leave it again. Enough of being a refugee."
CAIRO (AP) — This week saw a dizzying escalation in the nearly yearlong conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. First came two days of exploding pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah — deadly attacks pinned on Israel that also maimed civilians around Lebanon.
Hezbollah’s leader vowed to retaliate, and on Friday the militant group launched a wave of rockets into northern Israel. Later in the day, the commander of Hezbollah’s most elite unit was killed in a strike in Beirut that killed dozens more people.
Early Sunday, the cross-border attacks ramped up. Hezbollah launched more than 100 rockets deeper into northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa, and Israel launched hundreds of strikes on Lebanon.
Many fear the events are the prelude to an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite group that is Lebanon’s most powerful armed force. A war threatens to bring devastation in Lebanon, heavy missile fire into Israeli cities, and further destabilize a region already shaken by the war in Gaza.
During more than 11 months of exchanging fire over the Lebanese-Israeli border, both sides have repeatedly pulled back when the spiral of reprisals appeared on the verge of getting out of control, under heavy pressure from the U.S. and its allies. But in recent weeks, Israeli leaders have warned of a possible bigger military operation with the goal of stopping attacks from Lebanon to allow hundreds of thousands of Israelis displaced by the fighting to return to homes near the border.
Here are some things to know about the situation:
An Israeli airstrike Friday brought down a high-rise building in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Shiite-majority area known as Dahiyeh where Hezbollah has a strong presence. At least 45 people were killed and more than 60 wounded, the deadliest Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
The Israeli military said the strike killed Ibrahim Akil, the commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan unit, as well as other top leaders of the unit. Hezbollah later confirmed that Akil was killed, a heavy blow to Hezbollah’s most effective fighters. Israel said Akil led the group’s campaign of rocket, drone and other fire into northern Israel.
The strike came after the shock of the electronic device bombings, in which thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah detonated on Tuesday and Wednesday. At least 37 people were killed, including two children, and around 3,000 were wounded. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
The casualties included some fighters from the group, but many of the wounded were civilians connected to Hezbollah’s social branches. Analysts say the attack has little effect on Hezbollah’s manpower, but could disrupt its communications and force it to take tighter security measures.
Overnight into Sunday, one Hezbollah rocket struck near a residential building in Kiryat Bialik, a city near Haifa, wounding at least three people. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said four people were also wounded by shrapnel. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said three people were killed and another four wounded in Israeli strikes near the border, without saying whether they were civilians or combatants.
Hezbollah fired 140 rockets into northern Israel on Friday, saying it was targeting military sites in retaliation for overnight Israeli strikes into southern Lebanon. No casualties were reported.
It was a continuation of the near daily drumbeat of exchanges over the border since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7. The exchanges have killed around 600 people in Lebanon – mostly fighters but including around 100 civilians — and about 50 soldiers and civilians in Israel. It has also forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate homes near the border in both Israel and Lebanon.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah promised to retaliate for the electronic device bombings, raising fears of an escalation from the group. But Hezbollah also has proved wary of further stoking the crisis. The group faces a difficult balance of stretching the rules of engagement by hitting deeper into Israel in response to its brazen attacks, while at the same time trying to avoid the kind of large-scale attacks on civilian areas that can trigger a full-scale war that it would rather not start and take the blame for.
Hezbollah says its attacks against Israel are in support of Hamas. This week, Nasrallah said the barrages won’t end — and Israelis won’t be able to return to homes in the north — until Israel’s campaign in Gaza ends.
As fighting in Gaza has slowed, Israel has fortified forces along the border with Lebanon, including the arrival this week of a powerful army division that took part in some of the heaviest fighting in Gaza. It’s believed to include thousands of troops, including paratrooper infantry units and artillery and elite commando forces specially trained for operations behind enemy lines.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant this week declared the start of a “new phase” of the war as Israel turns its focus toward Hezbollah.
“The center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces,” he said.
Israeli officials say they haven’t yet made an official decision to expand military operations against Hezbollah – and haven’t said publicly what those operations might be. This week, the head of Israel’s Northern Command was quoted in local media as advocating for a ground invasion of Lebanon.
A U.N.-brokered truce to their 2006 war called on Hezbollah to pull back 29 kilometers (18 miles) from the border, but it has refused to, accusing Israel of also failing to carry out some provisions. Israel is now demanding Hezbollah withdraw eight to 10 kilometers (five to six miles) from the border – the range of Hezbollah’s anti-tank guided missiles.
Israel and Hezbollah’s 2006 war was a devastating monthlong fight triggered when Hezbollah fighters kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.
In that war, Israel heavily bombarded southern Lebanon and Beirut and sent a ground invasion into the south. The strategy, later explained by Israeli commanders, was to inflict the maximum damage possible in towns and neighborhoods where Hezbollah operated to deter them from launching attacks.
But Israel could have a more ambitious and contentious goal this time: to seize a buffer zone in south Lebanon to push back Hezbollah fighters from the border. A fight to hold territory threatens a longer, even more destructive and destabilizing war – recalling Israel’s 1982-2000 occupation of southern Lebanon.
The fear is that it could turn out even worse than the 2006 war, which was traumatic enough for both sides to serve as a deterrent ever since.
The fighting then killed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters and an estimated 1,100 Lebanese civilians and left large swaths of the south and even parts of Beirut in ruins. More than 120 Israeli soldiers were killed and hundreds wounded. Hezbollah missile fire on Israeli cities brought the war to the public, killing dozens of civilians.
Now, Israel estimates that Hezbollah possesses about 150,000 rockets and missiles, some of which are precision-guided, putting the entire country within range of Hezbollah fire. Israel has beefed up air defenses, but it’s unclear whether it can defend against the intense barrages expected in a new war.
Israel has vowed it could turn all of southern Lebanon into a battle zone, saying Hezbollah has embedded rockets, weapons and forces along the border. And in the heightened rhetoric of the past months, Israeli politicians have spoken of inflicting the same damage in Lebanon that the military has wreaked in Gaza.
Lebanese soldiers stand guard near the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
An emergency worker speaks on the phone during rescue efforts at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Emergency workers clear the rubble at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Hezbollah supporters march behind the hearse carrying the coffins of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil and militant Mahmoud Hamad during their funeral procession in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Police officers inspect a car inside of which a hand-held pager exploded, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese soldiers and firefighters gather outside a mobile shop after what is believed to be the result of a walkie-talkie exploding inside it, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
This video grab, shows a walkie-talkie that was exploded inside a house, in Baalbek, east Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo)
Israelis take cover next to a shelter as a siren sounds a warning of incoming rockets fired from Lebanon, in Nahariya, northern Israel, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
Women sit in a cemetery as they visit the graves of killed Hezbollah members in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A man comforts a boy crying during the funeral procession of Hezbollah members in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept a rocket fired from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Rescuers carry a body at the scene of a missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Residents look on as rescuers arrive at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
People stand on top of a damaged car at the scene of a missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Rescuers carry a body at the scene of a missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People gather at the scene of an Israeli missile strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
A man who was injured in the explosion of one of the handheld devices, sits outside the Eye Specialist hospital, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Hezbollah members carry the coffin of their comrade who was killed when a handheld device exploded, during a funeral procession in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
