"Horrific Situation Due to Israeli Airstrikes"…Lebanese People in 'Exodus' Procession

More than 100,000 People Recently Crossed the Border

As Israel intensifies its all-out offensive targeting Lebanon's pro-Iran armed faction Hezbollah, Lebanese citizens continue to flee abroad.

Lebanese people are coming to the airport to leave the country and go abroad to escape Israeli airstrikes.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the US CNN broadcast on the 2nd (local time), after Israel launched a ground offensive in southern Lebanon the previous day, flights from Lebanon's airport to the neighboring island nation of Cyprus have been crowded with Lebanese trying to escape their country.

According to the United Nations, over 100,000 people have fled across the border into Syria from Lebanon in recent weeks. Especially in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli military has entered, residents have been fleeing northward since last week.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that from the 23rd to the 27th of last month, a five-day period since Israel declared the 'Arrow of the North' operation and began intensively attacking Hezbollah bases in Lebanon, more than 118,000 refugees were generated in Lebanon. The UN also stated that on the 27th of last month, when Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah died due to Israeli bombings, 20,000 refugees were generated.

Lebanon, which has been suffering from economic difficulties since 2019, requested hundreds of millions of dollars in aid from the international community to resolve the refugee crisis occurring within its borders. According to Lebanon's state-run NNA news agency, on this day, Ziad Makari, Lebanon's Minister of Information, announced that $427 million (approximately 566 billion KRW) is urgently needed over the next three months for shelter provision and relief activities.

He said that Lebanese officials discussed crisis response measures with UN agencies and donor country ambassadors, adding, "All support will be carried out through transparent procedures via the UN and implemented in cooperation with the Lebanese government."