Around 500 people have crossed from Lebanon into war-torn Syria, a Syrian security official told AFP on Tuesday, fleeing the deadliest Israeli bombardment since Hezbollah and Israel fought a devastating war in 2006.
“Approximately 500 people crossed the border through the Qusayr and Dabousiya crossings between 4 p.m. (1300 GMT) and midnight on Monday,” the security official told AFP, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the matter.
“Vehicles were still crossing in the early hours of the morning, with people heading to the homes of friends and acquaintances in the Homs countryside and the city of Homs,” he added.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, which fought alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the country’s civil war, holds significant influence on both sides of the border.
Osama Bilal, a taxi driver who frequently takes passengers across the border, reported seeing dozens of cars with Lebanese registration plates packed with passengers and their belongings at the Masnaa border crossing.
The crossing lies on the road to Damascus from Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, a Hezbollah stronghold that was heavily bombarded by Israeli strikes on Monday.
Firas Makki, who fled from the Baalbek district, another Hezbollah stronghold, was among those seeking refuge in Syria.
“There is no town in the Baalbek area that hasn’t been targeted,” he said, adding that his family was heading to a relative’s house in Damascus.
“Most of the men stayed behind, but we left with the women and children because they’re our priority, and the children were terrified,” he added.
The intense bombardment, which has claimed more than 550 lives, has brought back painful memories of Hezbollah’s last war with Israel in 2006, which lasted just over a month.
In 2006, an estimated 250,000 Lebanese fled to Syria, with about 70,000 continuing on to third countries, according to UN figures.
“What we experienced during the 2006 war was nothing compared to what we saw yesterday in a single day,” Makki said. – AFP..
