Lebanese wishing to flee the war between Hezbollah and Israel may find it impossible to leave their country by land amid tight restrictions along the border with Syria.
These measures are a legacy of the 2011 to 2024 Syrian civil war, during which Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shiite group, entered the conflict against Sunni rebels fighting president Bashar Al Assad. Weeks after it took power in December 2024, the new, US-friendly government, comprising former rebels, imposed quid pro quo restrictions on the entry of Lebanese citizens.
“We cannot open the border because of security reasons,” a Syrian official told The National, without elaborating. He said that around 5,000 Lebanese nationals had crossed into Syria since the Israel-Iran war broke out on February 28.
Most of those entering had Syrian spouses, one of the main entry conditions for Lebanese people, the official, speaking by phone from Damascus, said. Certain Lebanese white-collar workers, investors, and holders of third country residency can also enter Syria, but few have done so since the outbreak of war.
Another Syrian source said the government does not want Hezbollah operatives to cross into the country to escape the Israeli attacks on the group, or to establish a foothold in Syria. Iran and its allies, including Russia, were the main losers in the Syrian civil war, having backed the Assad regime. Both had carved out zones of control in the country.
Fighting resumed in Lebanon after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Syrian government also fears a violent backlash against Lebanese incomers, particularly those from the Shiite community. “There is no political advantage to taking the risk of letting in large numbers of Lebanese. The struggle with Hezbollah is ideological, and hosting refugees will not change it,” the second source said.
Hezbollah fired artillery shells into Syria from Lebanon overnight between Monday and Tuesday, Syrian state media agency Sana reported. The army accused Hezbollah of targeting Syrian military positions and said it had seen reinforcements by the group along the border.
“The Syrian Arab Army will not tolerate any aggression targeting Syria,” the army said in a statement to Sana. The group's supply routes into Syria have been cut off and authorities on both sides say they are fighting smuggling across the porous border.
Last week, Syria sent elite troops and heavy weapons to the border of Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon. Among the troops are Uzbek and Uighur fighters who fought beside President Ahmad Al Shara in rebel forces and are now part of the army. Mr Al Shara said the deployment of additional troops was an internal security move.
Around 80,000 Syrians have returned from Lebanon since February 28, according to UN data. Restrictions on the entry of Lebanese match those Beirut had introduced to limit the flow of Syrian refugees in the last decade.
During the Syrian civil war, around a million Syrians fled to Lebanon. However, almost half of them have returned to Syria since the ousting of the Assad regime, according to the UN.
Under Mr Al Shara, Syria's ties have improved sharply with most Arab countries, except Lebanon.
A founder of a taxi company operating on the Beirut-Damascus-Amman route said some Lebanese people had been allowed into Syria on their way to Jordan, despite not strictly meeting the entry requirements. “They receive extra security screening and then are let on their way,” he said.
Lebanon and Syria are linked by six official crossings. The main one is Masnaa, in the foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountains, 40km from Damascus and 100km from Beirut. Others that had significant traffic before the Syrian civil war are Al Dabbousieh, between the northern Lebanese province of Akkar and the Syrian province of Homs, and Jousieh, between Homs and Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
The last time Lebanese fled to Syria en masse was during the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. The quarter of a million refugees then were mostly Shiites from south Lebanon. Around half a million Lebanese, also mostly Shiites, have been displaced internally in the current war.
