Aleppo, December 2024. Middle East: Syrians flee their homes en masse amid escalation, refugees return to Lebanon Peace and Security
More than 280,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in northwestern Syria in recent days due to a major offensive by opposition forces led by fighters from the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham on government-controlled areas.
Aid continues to flow into Syria
Speaking in Geneva following a joint UN-NGO assessment mission to the Middle East from November 25 to December 1, Samer Abdel-Jaber of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned that some 1.5 million people would be displaced from their homes in Syria and would need humanitarian support.
Abdel-Jaber noted that three border crossings with Turkey were not closed and aid was continuing to flow into northwest Syria, including Aleppo.
WFP has opened and supported two community kitchens in Aleppo and Hama, where locals can receive hot meals.
Return of refugees to Lebanon
Meanwhile, thousands of refugees have begun returning from Syria to their homes in Lebanon after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on November 27.
“I am sure that they are returning to their old places, the problem is what they will find when they return home,” Edem Wosornu, the director of operations for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told a briefing for journalists in Geneva, stressing that unexploded ordnance poses a danger to returnees, in particular. This will primarily affect farmers who will return to their fields mined during the fighting.
Residents of northern Gaza do not receive medical care
Meanwhile, Israel’s ground military operation continues in the Gaza Strip, which is hindering the population’s access to medical services. Many are unable to reach hospitals, and critical shortages of medical supplies, fuel and blood for transfusions are reported.
WHO missions to Gaza are severely hampered, said Richard Peperkorn, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
From October 2023 to December 2024, 58 percent of planned WHO-led missions to the Strip were either cancelled or faced serious obstacles.
WHO continues to support patient evacuation operations outside Gaza. Since 7 October 2023, 5,325 people in urgent need of medical care have been evacuated from the Strip. At least 12,000 patients in Gaza still need to be evacuated, their survival depends on it.