People fleeing Israel's Lebanon aggression Syria's top priority: President Assad
President Bashar al-Assad says the newly formed government of Syria will prioritize assistance to the people of Lebanon fleeing Israel’s barbarism.
The president issued a decree forming a new government under Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali on Monday.
Addressing the newly formed cabinet, Assad instructed the ministers on Wednesday that Damascus has to “stand by our friends in Lebanon in all fields and in all sectors, without exception and hesitation.”
“With the first hours of your work, the main focus of your work must be, during these hours and days, before all other priorities, how can we stand by our friends in Lebanon.”
Syrian security officials said Tuesday that over 500 people have crossed from Lebanon to the country seeking refuge there.
Israel’s heavy shelling of Lebanon, which started on September 23, have claimed the lives of over 600 people, including more than 50 children, according to health officials.
According to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), hundreds of vehicles are backed up in queues while seeking to cross the Syrian border on Wednesday.
“Many people are also arriving on foot, carrying what they can,” UNHCR said in a statement.
“Large crowds, including women, young children and babies are waiting in line after spending the night outdoors in falling temperatures. Some carry fresh injuries from the recent bombardments.”
UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi described the news as “yet another ordeal for families” who had fled years of civil war in Syria, “only now to be bombed in the country where they sought shelter.
He said West Asia “cannot afford a new displacement crisis. Let us not create one by forcing more people to abandon their homes.”
Millions of Syrians became refugees in Lebanon following the start of the 2011 foreign-backed militancy against the government of Assad.
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