Syrians fleeing Israeli strikes in Lebanon are returning home to a rebuilding country
More than 100,00 Syrian refugees have crossed into their country from Lebanon this month, fleeing intense violence to return to a region still struggling to rebuild after more than a decade of civil war.
At the Jdeidet Yabous border – the main entry point between Lebanon and Syria – buses and cars have arrived full of families fleeing Israeli bombardment and the escalating fighting in Lebanon. Some were tied to mattresses on top of cars, their belongings piled high.
Many Syrians agreed to talk about why they left Lebanon and their journey to the border, but did not want to share their full names with CBC News. Some because they were in a hurry to cross the border to take their families to safety, while others were afraid that the Lebanese authorities would send them back to that country.
Fatimah, a Syrian woman crossing with her children, says her family has been living in southern Lebanon for two years after fleeing the Syrian civil war. He breaks down in tears as he describes the airstrike on his sister-in-law’s son’s house in southern Lebanon, which killed him and his wife.
“They were just married, only five months,” he said, crying. “They haven’t seen anything in life. What was their fault to be killed?”
Leaving one battle for another
Lebanon was plunged into the latest war after the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel on March 2. Israel has since intensified airstrikes across Lebanon – including southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold.
“We escaped from one war and returned to another,” said Fatimah. Now, as the war rages, he once again finds himself trying to keep his family safe from the conflict.
“My kids were freezing,” she said, describing the harsh conditions as the temperatures dropped. “I hold them in my lap so they feel safe.”
The roughly 120 to 160 kilometer journey from southern Lebanon to the crossing – called Masnaa on the Lebanese side and Jedeidet Yabous on the Syrian side – usually takes a few hours by car. Without a car, it can now take days.
Others were forced to leave their belongings behind. Fatimah pointed to her clothes. “I only went with these.”
Many people fasting during the holy month of Ramadan reached the border just before the Iftar dinner, tired and struggling to stand. They were greeted by Syrian Civil Defense personnel and civil society organizations, who transported the injured and provided first aid while distributing water, dates and snacks.
Some people return to their hometowns or live with families temporarily, while others hope to find a job so they can rent a place. Fatimah’s husband, who stayed behind in Lebanon to help bury his relatives, plans to join them later in Syria.
The US and Israel-Iran war has spilled over into Lebanon, with airstrikes on the capital Beirut and Israeli ground forces moving into the south. The Israel Defense Forces are urging the evacuation of civilians from the districts, as they step up bombings against Hezbollah, a militant group and Iran’s proxy based in Lebanon.
Being caught between 2 threats
The Syrian uprising began in 2011, and Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon quickly entered Syria to support the government of Bashar al-Assad. Millions of Syrians were displaced and hundreds of thousands headed for Lebanon.
At the crossing, a Syrian man living in Mansourieh said he fled the city east of Beirut after Israeli strikes increased. He said that many of the strikes had been carried out in Shia areas under the control of Hezbollah.
The man, who claimed to be from Al Hasakah, a town in northeastern Syria near the border between Iraq and Turkey, also said that Syrians fear hostilities in areas where Hezbollah has influence.
He said he packed groceries and stayed indoors for about a week after the Israeli strikes began in Lebanon because he was afraid to leave his home.
Lebanon holds approx 1.5 million Syrian refugees among a population of about four million, giving it the highest number of refugees per capita in the world, according to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.
Human rights organizations say the Syrians are in Lebanon they face increasing discrimination, imprisonment and deportation in recent years.
Inside the border arrivals building, a staging area run by UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is helping Syrians. they returned to their country voluntarily. The program, which runs through the end of March, provides transportation and a cash stipend of $100 US per person, according to UNHCR.
The man said he had not returned because Al Hasakah, which was run for many years by the Kurdish-led forces with the support of the United States, faced years of instability and economic difficulties.
Then, the Syrian civil war ended in December 2024when the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Syrian rebel groups captured various cities and overthrew the regime, Assad fled to Russia. The Syrian government, now led by Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former HTS commander, has just begun. sending troops to Al Hasakah to bring it back under the jurisdiction of the state.
The man says he will return to the city until the strikes ease in Lebanon, where he is based.
“We will be waiting for God’s relief.”
Syria is still rebuilding
Since the fall of the Assad regime, UNHCR estimates others 1.3 million Syrian refugees from around the world have returned home.
Now, the current war in the Middle East is driving that number higher.
From March 2 to March 17, more than 125,000 people have crossed from Lebanon to Syriaaccording to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). It noted that the majority are Syrian, while around 7,000 are Lebanese, highlighting the wider regional impact of Israeli strikes against Lebanon.
Syria’s Minister of Emergencies and Disasters, Raed al-Saleh, who is also a full-time Canadian citizen, discusses how the government is supporting refugees returning to Syria from Lebanon due to intensified strikes in the region.
Raed al-Saleh, Syria’s minister of emergency and disaster management and former head of the White Helmets, is a Canadian citizen. He told CBC News in an interview on March 11 that the government inherited a country in dire straits after years of war.
“We need to remove the landmines. We need to remove the rubble of the destroyed houses. We need to re-dig, repair and fix the existing infrastructure – be it sewage, water or other systems.”
Despite those challenges and limited funding, Saleh says government teams have been deployed along the border to liaise with aid groups and help returning Syrian families.
“These are people returning to their families and their country,” he said.
“We are dealing with it as people returning home, not as a humanitarian problem.”
Reporting of this story sponsored by Gordon Sinclair Roving Reporter Scholarship.
