Shelling in southern Lebanon forced Syrian national Imad Omar Qashit to flee his home once more. The 52-year-old, who left Syria for Lebanon 14 years ago, reversed that journey this spring after Israeli missiles struck neighborhoods in the port city of Tyre.
“When Israeli missiles destroyed entire homes in my neighborhood in southern Lebanon’s city of Tyre, we decided it was time to save our lives again,” Qashit told DW.
The movement came as Lebanon was pulled into a wider Middle East conflict in early March, after Hezbollah — backed by Iran — fired rockets into Israel, ostensibly in retaliation for the Israeli killing of Iran’s leader. A US-brokered 10-day ceasefire was announced on Thursday, but before it began the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that more than 227,549 people had crossed the three official border points from Lebanon into Syria. Around 95% of those were Syrians and 5% Lebanese.
Lebanese health authorities put the death toll from Israeli attacks on Hezbollah at roughly 2,196, without providing a breakdown by nationality. Estimates of Syrians among the dead and wounded vary, ranging from about 39 to 315. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, registers more than 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, with hundreds of thousands believed to be there without registration.
Returning to a devastated homeland
Qashit and his family arrived in their native Maarat al-Numan, near Aleppo, to find their house completely destroyed during Syria’s long civil war, which officially ended in December 2024 after a coalition of rebel groups ousted Bashar al-Assad. “There are no houses for rent as the whole city is destroyed,” he said. For now, the family is staying with Qashit’s sister.
Another returnee, Mohammad Jassem al-Brouk, crossed back from Lebanon two weeks earlier after fleeing Israeli strikes. The border crossing took an entire day due to crowds. At his family home in Qusair near Homs he found only ruins; with no alternative he unpacked a tent he had kept from the refugee camp in Lebanon and erected it on the site. Despite the lack of shelter and services, he said he does not want to go back to Lebanon.
A UNHCR survey conducted in early April found that roughly half of Syrians interviewed intended to remain permanently in Syria despite severe economic hardship and limited state services. “Syrians are returning because Lebanon has become unlivable, rather than Syria being ready to receive them,” said Nanar Hawach, senior Syria analyst at the International Crisis Group. He cautioned that while the Syrian government can control border crossings, it has no clear plan for what happens after people return, and that large numbers of returnees should not be interpreted as a sign that conditions in Syria have improved.
Continued humanitarian needs
Syria still bears the legacy of more than a decade of conflict. Although international sanctions have been lifted and Damascus has been partially reintegrated into diplomatic channels, sectarian tensions and political instability persist. The World Bank estimates reconstruction needs at about $216 billion. Basic services such as education, health care and infrastructure remain limited, leaving the humanitarian situation acute for roughly 26 million people.
The UN says about 15.6 million Syrians require humanitarian assistance and 13.3 million are food-insecure. A severe drought in 2025 devastated some 95% of rainfed crops, according to the UN’s 2025 food security assessment. “Syria was already in a protracted humanitarian crisis before this new wave of returns,” Hiba Zayadin, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, told DW. “The infrastructure simply isn’t there to absorb large numbers of people, many of whom left with nothing and are returning to the same.”
Explosive remnants and safety risks
A further danger for returnees is contamination by explosive remnants of war. Years of aerial bombardment, ground fighting and the use of cluster munitions have left vast areas strewn with unexploded ordnance (UXO), landmines and improvised explosive devices. Iain Overton, executive director of Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), warned that UXO contamination is particularly acute in areas that saw sustained fighting and shifting front lines — including parts of Raqqa, Deir el-Zour, Aleppo, Idlib and rural Homs and Hama — many of which are precisely where returnees are heading. Children and others unfamiliar with these hazards are especially vulnerable.
AOAV recorded 238 UXO incidents causing 508 casualties in 2024, of which 479 were civilians. By 2025, incidents rose to 794, resulting in 1,537 casualties, including 1,424 civilians.
For Qashit, returned from Lebanon, the threat is immediate and personal. “My children would not recognize unexploded mines when they are playing outside,” he said, voicing a worry shared by many families arriving back in a shattered homeland.