Lebanon ground report: Syrian refugees return home as Israel pounds Hezbollah

Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon have led to a mass migration of people, with many flocking to the Syrian border in the Bekaa Valley. A majority of those seen at the border are Syrian migrants, who had initially sought refuge in Lebanon due to the Syrian Civil War.

India Today TV’s Ashraf Wani, the only Indian reporter on the ground in Lebanon, recorded thousands of people fleeing to Syria as fears of a ground invasion by Israeli forces loom large.

For months, and especially in the last three days, many people from southern Lebanon and southern Beirut have reached the Lebanon-Syria border. Locals told India Today TV that over one lakh people have crossed into Syria in the last three days.

Mohammed Hamad, a Syrian refugee, said he came to Lebanon in 2021 due to the war in his home country. However, he stated that Lebanon is no longer a safe haven due to ongoing Israeli strikes.

Notably, Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, supported the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria to help it regain control of the country after the Syrian Civil War began in 2011.

Assad is now trying to return the favour by providing free access to displaced Lebanese citizens (and Syrian migrants) and assisting in their rehabilitation.

But some people in Syria are celebrating the death of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike, blaming him for the deaths of thousands and the instability in their country.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has vowed revenge against Israel after the killing of Nasrallah and at least a dozen other top commanders. However, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a televised speech on Sunday that his country had “no option but the diplomatic option” to end the Israeli aggression.

Israel has pledged to cripple Hezbollah and end its 11 months of fire on Israeli territory, which Nasrallah had described as a “support front” for his ally Hamas in Gaza.