Photo: Syrian refugees in Lebanon

The 27-month conflict in Syria has already had a significant effect on neighbouring Lebanon. With the number of Syrian refugees entering the country now at half a million, local municipalities are struggling to cope.

In an interview with Reuters Sunday, Fayyad Haydar, the mayor of Qub Elias in Lebanon’s Beqaa region, said that the increasing number of refugees from Syria is putting the municipality under “immense pressure”, while Ingolfur Palsson, the head of the UN’s World Food Program sub-office in Bekaa, said that:

“Every month we have 50,000 people crossing the border to Lebanon coming from Syria. And every month we are increasing our capacity to meet the needs of these people. For us, food is the highest priority for these people at the moment. We’re able to cope, but it’s getting more and more difficult.”

Violence from Syria has also spread into Lebanon, including with recurring clashes in Tripoli between supporters and opponents of the Assad regime.

That effect has escalated in recent weeks with the prominence of Hezbollah alongside Syrian forces, notably in the battle for al-Qusayr, a strategic city for both the Assad regime and the insurgents near the Lebanese border. Syrian insurgents have fired into Lebanon’s border villages and have warned of further attacks if Hezbollah does not stop its operations inside Syria.

On Sunday, the ripples reached Beirut, as Hezbollah supporters attacked protesters outside the Iranian Embassy. Demonstrators were beaten as they got off buses, and one man was shot to death.

The headline in Lebanese daily Annahar — over a photograph of pro-Hezbollah supporters attacking a bus carrying anti-Hezbollah demonstrators in Beirut yesterday — reflected the concern felt in Lebanon over the situation: “Lebanon Seeks Help: A Million Syrians And 80,000 Palestinians — A Need for $1.6 bln For Relief Work.”

Meanwhile, the Assad regime is promoting its ties with the “resistance” in Lebanon.

Syrian state media reported Monday that a “large crowd” — including local residents and students bused in from al-Baath University in Damascus — had gathered in Qusayr to celebrate its “liberation”. Also present was a delegation from Lebanon, who “expressed the unity of the Arab people” against “terrorists backed by the US and Israel”.

According to State news agency SANA, the regional secretary of the Baath Party in Lebanon spoke at the event. A former Lebanese MP, Hassan Yaqub, of the Popular Bloc also attended the rally.


First-Hand: The Flight from Qusayr — 20-Minute Video

Posted by the Qusayr Media Center today:

First-Hand: The Flight from Qusayr

AFP reports on last week’s flight by civilians and fighters from Qusayr, near the Lebanese border, as it fell to regime forces. A extract:

Exhausted by a grueling five-day trek to reach safety in Lebanon over rocky mountains and valleys, Mohammad from war-torn Syria had to walk despite injuries to his leg while hiding from regime troops.

Wounded in Al-Qusayr, Mohammad, 35, is now being treated in a rudimentary hospital in Minieh, northern Lebanon….

“People tried to evacuate me on a pick-up truck, but there was so much destruction the vehicle couldn’t move,” said Mohammad, his face bearded and extremely pale.

“We left the town on foot though I was losing a lot of blood,” he added, as he lay in a dirty pair of jeans and a grey t-shirt — the same clothes he used for the five days.

He arrived in a village near Al-Qusayr whose name he refused to reveal. There, both he and several other wounded people were treated using a basic first-aid kit.

“There wasn’t enough blood to give everybody transfusions. They treated my wound but couldn’t give me blood,” he [said]….“We walked for five nights, to avoid the army patrols. We rested during the day and whenever we saw the soldiers, we’d hide behind trees in the fields.”

Rumors Of Regime Plans To Attack Aleppo, Surroundings

Just about every major news outlet — including the BBC — are reporting this morning that Syrian government forces are “preparing for major offensive” on Aleppo and its surroundings.

However, while there are many reports, they all come from the same sources — an unnamed “security source”; pro-regime newspaper al-Watan; and the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

So what was said and by whom? The nationality of the “security source” — a single source who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity — is unclear; that source said that it was “likely” that government forces would attack Aleppo “in the coming hours or days”, but did not specify which areas of the city.

The Syrian Observatory said that Hezbollah has sent “dozens” of officers to train “hundreds” of Syrian Shia Muslims but offers no further information or source for this information.

Lebanon’s Daily Star offers more information, from a Syrian activist based in Turkey, who says that there have been heavy clashes at an important hillside village northwest of Aleppo, Maaret al-Atiq.

The map below shows the location of Maaret al-Atiq:

Meanwhile, the Daily Star quoted a rebel commander as saying that there had been two major battles Sunday near two rural Shia villages, al-Nubul and Zahra, outside Aleppo.

Lebanon: Bomb Targets Two Cars Near Syrian Border

Lebanese media are reporting that a roadside bomb has exploded on the Taanayel International Road in the Beqaa, creating a half meter deep crater.

LBCI has this video report:

MTV Lebanon reported that the blast shattered the windows of a black BMW and a white van. The van — which had a fake license plate — continued driving towards Bar Elias road and later entered Syria via the Masnaa border crossing.

Maps showing the location of Taanayel and the Syrian border:


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Washington To Decide On Arms To Syrian Rebels

In the wake of advances by Syrian regime forces — including in the strategic town of al-Qusayr near the Lebanese border — AP cites US officials as saying that the Obama administration could decide as soon as this week to approve lethal aid for insurgents.

Washington could also consider the “less likely move to send in US air power to enforce a no-fly zone” over Syria, AP quoted unnamed officials as saying. White House meetings are planned for the next few days, the report notes.

There have been other similar reports in the US. AP notes that “a source” told a CBS reporter that the Obama administration believes it must “reevaluate options” in the light of recent events in Syria. CBS adds:

Another source, close to the opposition, confirmed that arming the rebels would be discussed. It was not clear whether it would be covert, or overt arming. Also unclear was how quickly the U.S. would actually be able to deliver on any new pledge.

Al-Monitor’s Laura Rozen reported via Twitter this morning that a source informed her that there is to be a meeting of the Principals Committee of the National Security Council — i.e. the National Security Council minus President Obama — at the White House today.

Cyprus Rescinds Citizenship of Billionaire Assad Cousin

Cyprus has rescinded citizenship that it gave in January 2011 to Syrian billionaire Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of President Assad.

In August 2012, the Cabinet decided to withdraw citizenship for Makhlouf, his wife, and three sons. The decision was confirmed by a legal review panel in March and rubber-stamped by the Government this week.

“There are reasons of public interest for this decision, Government spokesman Christos Stylianides said, declining further comment.

Makhlouf, whose interests before the crisis ranged from banks to a mobile phone network and real estate, has been under US sanctions since 2008 for what Washington calls public corruption. European Union foreign ministers imposed further sanctions on him in May 2011, accusing him of bankrolling the Assad regime.

In June 2011, the tycoon said he was leaving Syrian business and becoming a philanthropist. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Casualties

The Local Coordination Committees claim 161 people were killed on Sunday, including 74 in Damascus and its suburbs, 26 in Homs Province, 15 in Raqqa Province, and 12 in Hama Province.

The Violations Documentation Center reports that 63,163 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since March 2011, an increase of 88 from Sunday. Of the deaths, 48,747 were civilians, a rise of 57 from yesterday.