Millions flee Lebanon to Syria amid Israel attacks

As Lebanon’s crisis deepens, millions have fled to Syria, another war-torn nation, seeking safety and enduring lengthy waits in traffic to escape violence.

The United Nations officials estimate that thousands of Lebanese and Syrian families have already made the journey, with numbers expected to grow as Israel targets southern and eastern Lebanon, killing over 600 people this week.

As a result of the crisis, lines of buses and cars extended for several kilometers (miles) from the Syrian border beginning on Monday, and some families were seen making the journey on foot.

“Many will have to spend the night outdoors waiting their turn,” a spokesperson for the U.N.’s refugee agency, Rula Amin said in a statement.

Amin also noted that some of the people arriving from Lebanon had visible injuries suffered from recent attacks.

Also, before crossing the border, crowds packed into a government office to be processed by immigration officers and, in the case of Syrian citizens, to change $100 to Syrian pounds before entering.

However, Some immigrants were returning refugees, like Emad al-Salim, who had fled Syria in 2014.

He was living in the southern coastal city of Tyre when Monday’s bombardment began. He gathered his wife and six children and fled again.

Similarly, Nada returned with her family after seven years in Lebanon with her husband.

“Where am I going to go?” she said. “I don’t even have a house anymore. I don’t know where I will go,” Nada said.

The cross-border flow was a striking reversal in fortunes given that Lebanon is still hosting more than one million Syrian refugees who fled the war in their country that began in 2011.

At least 775,000 Syrians are registered with the U.N. Refugee Agency in Lebanon, and hundreds of thousands more are believed to be unregistered in the country.

For many in Lebanon, particularly those living in the Bekaa Valley in the east, Syria appeared to be the quickest route to safety.

Syria, despite its ongoing war, offers a relatively calm refuge for Lebanese. With visa-free travel and lower housing costs, many Lebanese had already secured apartments there as a backup plan.