LOUAI BESHARA / AFP
Residents fleeing Israeli bombs arrive at the smuggling post between Lebanon and Syria, in Jdeidat Yabus, September 25, 2024.
INTERNATIONAL – The exodus. After six days of massive strikes on Lebanon, the population of areas targeted by Israel has no choice but to flee. Result: there are now almost a million displaced people in the country, as Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati indicated this Sunday, September 29. It would be, according to him, the “ largest population displacement in the history of Lebanon ».
« The number is very large and could reach a million people », he sadly announced during a press conference. This would represent a sixth of the total population of Lebanon, and above all a major risk for the balance of the country, shared between several communities (Sunnis, Maronite Christians, Shiites and Druze in particular).
Emergency aid from the UN
For now, the results are far from definitive, especially as Israeli bombings continue this Sunday, but confirm fears about the unprecedented impact of Israeli strikes, which aim to destroy Hezbollah. . There German wave mentioned on Saturday nearly half a million people displaced in Lebanon “ in less than five days “, but the fact that the million displaced people on Lebanese territory will soon be exceeded had already been mentioned the same day to Reuters by Nasser Yassine, head of the Lebanese government crisis unit.
In response, the UN-run World Food Program (WFP) announced this Sunday the launch of an emergency operation to provide food aid to one million people affected by the recent escalation of the conflict in Lebanon. The WFP will “distribute food rations, bread, hot meals and parcels to families in camps across the country”explains the agency in a press release to explain “the need for an immediate humanitarian response”.
“As the crisis deepens, we are preparing to help up to a million people with a mix of cash and food aid”specifies the agency, calling on the international community to contribute up to 105 million dollars to enable the WFP to finance these operations until the end of the year, a minima.
The Syrian border as an objective
If the symbolic figure of one million displaced people risks being quickly reached, other data demonstrates the unprecedented impact of the IDF’s strikes on the Lebanese population. According to figures provided on Saturday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), “ more than 50,000 Lebanese and Syrians living in Lebanon » have crossed the Syrian border in recent days.
In a message published on social networks on Saturday, the high representative of the UNHCR Filippo Grandi also shared images of this forced flight under pressure from the Israeli army, which does not seem to want to reduce the pace of its strikes. On the contrary, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed on Saturday evening that he wanted to continue striking the “enemies of Israel”.
In total, Israeli bombings on Lebanon have already left more than 700 dead, the vast majority of them civilians, in the space of a week, according to a count provided by the Lebanese Ministry of Health. For a total death toll of 1,500, since October 7, 2023.
“Relief operations are underway, notably by UNHCR, to help all those who need it, in coordination with the” authorities, also warned Filippo Grandi in his message.
Other images relayed on social networks, as above in the city of Sidon, show the impressive traffic jams formed on the roads to flee towards the north or towards the east, where the border with Syria is located. The newspaper The Echoes reported on Thursday that some families fleeing to Syria are now to the point of abandoning their cars to cover the last kilometers on foot and thus reach more quickly the border post which will take them to another country greatly marked by war in recent decades . But where they expect to find a less terrible situation than at home.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.fr
