The number of people fleeing to Kurdish-led North and East Syria from Lebanon has surpassed 20,000, as the Israel-Hezbollah conflict drives a new wave of displacement across the region.
The Crisis Desk established by the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) announced that 20,206 people have reached the region from Lebanon, including 87 Lebanese nationals. The bodies of 28 Syrian nationals have also been returned to the region.
Thousands fleeing violence in Lebanon seek refuge in North and East Syria
The AANES has implemented a comprehensive resettlement strategy for the arrivals. Citizens returning to North and East Syria are either housed in their own homes, with relatives, or directed to administration-prepared centres if they have nowhere else to go.
International support is needed to manage the humanitarian situation, the administration warned. “We have opened our doors to Syrians returning from Lebanon since the war began,” Şêxmûs Ehmed, Co-Chair of the Refugee Affairs Office, said. He emphasised the urgent need to open the Til Koçer (Al-Yaarubiyah) border crossing between northeast Syria and Iraq for humanitarian aid, while noting that more than 50 families have been settled in the Ednaniyê Camp in Raqqa Canton.
The Administration provides tents, food, healthcare, blankets and other necessities, with monthly allowances, daily bread and fuel assistance scheduled to begin in December.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll in Gaza has reached 43,341 since Israel began its military campaign on 7 October 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. In the past 24 hours alone, 27 people were killed and 86 wounded in four Israeli strikes across various parts of Gaza. The Ministry also reported 102,105 injured during the 394-day offensive. Health officials noted that additional casualties remain uncounted, with bodies still trapped under rubble and along roadsides, as Israeli forces prevent health teams and civil defence workers from reaching them.
