Almost 120,000 Syrians have returned from neighbouring Lebanon since the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah began, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) provided to AFP on Wednesday.
“As of March 17, 125,784 people have entered Syria from Lebanon since the fighting began, about 119,000 of whom are Syrians,” the UN agency’s Displacement Tracking Matrix said.
Lebanon—which hosts around one million Syrians who fled the civil war that began in 2011—was drawn into the conflict on March 2, when the Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader.
Israel has since launched intensive airstrikes and ground operations in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese health ministry said four Syrians were killed on Tuesday.
Syria has so far remained outside the regional war.
More than half a million Syrians returned from Lebanon last year, according to the UN refugee agency, following the 2024 fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, who had been backed by Iran and Hezbollah.
