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BEIRUT: More than 200,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their homeland from neighboring Lebanon this year following the fall of longtime ruler Bashar Assad, a United Nations official told AFP.

The Syrian civil war, which erupted in 2011 with Assad’s brutal repression of anti-government protests, displaced half of the population internally or abroad.

But the December 8 ouster of the former Syrian president at the hands of Islamist forces sparked hopes of return.

Lebanese authorities recently introduced a plan offering $100 in aid and exemptions from fines for refugees leaving the country, provided they pledge not to return as asylum seekers.

“Since the beginning of this year, we’re looking at about 200,000 Syrians that have gone back, most of them on their own,” said Kelly Clements, deputy high commissioner at the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

“That number is increasing very quickly,” she told AFP in an interview.

While many Syrians are heading back to Hama, Homs and Aleppo, most refugees remain in Lebanon where humanitarian needs remain high amid shrinking aid budgets.

Clements stressed the UNHCR was not encouraging returns, describing it as “an individual choice for each family to make.”

Lebanese authorities estimate that the country hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees. The United Nations says it has registered more than 755,000.

UNHCR support for returnees includes small-scale housing repairs, cash assistance and core relief items, though more intensive reconstruction is beyond the agency’s capacity.

About 80 percent of Syrian housing was damaged during the civil war, with one in three families needing housing support, according to Clement.

The majority of Syrians who fled the 14-year civil war to Lebanon remain there, she noted, with needs remaining high as humanitarian aid decreases.

“You see the Lebanon budget decreasing, you see the Syrian budget increasing,” she said, pointing out however that the UNHCR’s 2025 plan only reached a fifth of its needed funds.

The agency is unable to determine whether Syria as a whole was safe to return to, she said, as parts of Syria were “safe and peaceful” while other parts were “less secure.”

According to the UN, over two million Syrian refugees and internally displaced people returned to their areas of origin since the Islamist-led offensive toppled Assad.

However, around 13.5 million Syrians remain displaced internally or abroad.

The new authorities are dealing with a devastated economy and destroyed infrastructure, with the majority of citizens living below the poverty line, according to the UN.

DEIR AL BALAH: Israel began mobilizing tens of thousands of reservists on Tuesday as part of its plan to widen its offensive in Gaza City, which has sparked opposition domestically and condemnation abroad.
The beginning of September call-up, announced last month, comes as ground and air forces press forward and pursue more targets in northern and central Gaza, striking parts of Zeitoun and Shijaiyah — two western Gaza City neighborhoods that Israeli forces have repeatedly invaded during the 23-month war against Hamas militants.
Zeitoun, once Gaza City’s largest neighborhood with markets, schools and clinics, has been transformed over the past month, with streets being emptied and buildings reduced to rubble as it becomes what Israel’s military last week called a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gaza City is Hamas’ political and military stronghold and, according to Israel, still home to a vast tunnel network despite multiple incursions throughout the war. It is also one of the last refuges in the northern strip, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are sheltering, facing twin threats of combat and famine.
The reservist call-up will be gradual and include 60,000, Israel’s military said last month. It will also extend the service of an additional 20,000 already on active duty.
Since the world’s leading authority on food crises declared last month that Gaza City was experiencing famine, malnutrition-related deaths have mounted. Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday that a total of 185 people died of malnutrition in August — marking the highest count in months.
A total of 63,557 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the ministry, which says another 160,660 people have been wounded. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up around half the dead.
The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but staffed by medical professionals. UN agencies and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of war casualties. Israel disputes them, but hasn’t provided its own toll.
The war started with an attack on Oct. 7, 2023, on southern Israel in which Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people hostage. Forty-eight hostages are still inside Gaza, around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.