Homs‎, Syria - October 03, 2024

Syria is seeing an influx of displaced civilians from Lebanon due to the recent escalation of confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel, following the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah by an Israeli airstrike on September 29 and the current Israeli ground operation in southern Lebanon.

The Syrian government said it is trying its best to facilitate both shelter and aid for the incoming refugees. However, the nation's dire economic situation and poor public services are putting additional strain on the displaced.

Bashar, a Syrian citizen, previously fled from Raqqa City in Syria to Lebanon in 2016 due to the civil war, and now he is fleeing Lebanon.

The humanitarian situation in Lebanon is deteriorating, as more than 100,000 people have moved from Lebanon into Syria and over 200,000 people have been displaced from southern Lebanon due to the evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Lebanese citizen Husam was trying to enter Syria with some of his neighbors who had been wounded by an Israeli airstrike in eastern Lebanon. Now he is in a hurry to find them timely medical attention and treatment.

As many houses across Syria have been devastated by domestic war, the influx of refugees is adding more pressure on the country's infrastructure facilities.

Some Lebanese who could not find houses in Syria are taking to churches and other public places for temporary shelter. They said they come here fleeing Israeli bombings with the fear that their children would be forever traumatized.

Shotlist:
Homs City, central Syria - Oct 3, 2024:
1. Various of displaced people from Lebanon, their children, belongings;
2. Vehicles waiting to pass through border crossing;
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Dahham, manager, border crossing:
"The main difficulties are connected with 'over-crowdedness', which started on the first day of Israeli aggression against our brothers in Lebanon. So, we started to have the over-crowdedness situation as there were massive flows of both Lebanese coming into Syria and Syrians who lived in the targeted areas of Lebanon.";
4. Various of displaced people from Lebanon, their children;
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bashar, displaced Syrian:
"I left my city in Syria, Raqqa, because I did not want to live under these awful circumstances, as there was a war over there. So, we went to Lebanon, and I worked in the country since 2016 up until this year. But when the situation worsened, we were forced to leave quickly and we couldn't even carry food with us."
6. Displaced Lebanese man, his vehicle;
7. Child with bandage on head;
8. UN staff member making inquiries;
9. Displaced Lebanese man, his vehicle;
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Husam, displaced Lebanese (starting with shots 7-9):
"Our house was hit and flattened, and my neighbors next doors were wounded. The road to this place was frightening, and we had faced tough times until we arrived here.";
11. Various of displaced people from Lebanon, their belongings;
12. Buildings seen from moving car;
13. Various of vehicles, displaced people, children in temporary shelter;
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Aiham, displaced Lebanese:
"Those children would be scarred and traumatized. They are two to ten years old and are all prone to having lifelong fear and trauma due to the extensive airstrikes and bombings and the frightening circumstances.";
15. Various of displaced people, children in temporary shelter.

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