Despite past tensions, Syrians are opening their homes to displaced Lebanese families

Khaled al-Falah, a resident of the war-scarred Syrian town of Madaya, just 40 kilometres from the Lebanese border, has opened his doors to a southern Lebanese family of five fleeing Israel's relentless airstrikes.

Israel has carried out extensive airstrikes as of 23 September, "targeting Hezbollah positions" throughout Lebanon. The attacks left nearly 2,000 civilians dead and more than 3,000 injured, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that the relentless Israeli bombardment has displaced over "one million people across Lebanon." The United Nations estimates that at least 100,000 Lebanese nationals have fled to Syria seeking refuge.

"We are a border town that suffered through war," al-Falah told The New Arab, "We understand the plight of the displaced. Those who have tasted loss and exile are the best equipped to help others."

'Our brothers'

Despite past tensions, and in a remarkable display of solidarity, Syrians are welcoming displaced Lebanese families into their homes.

Several Syrian social media users have even shared their contact information, offering to share their food and personal spaces with those in need.

Ghaith Ahmad, a resident of Homs, told TNA that he commented on a viral post, offering to share his home with a small Lebanese family. 

"Shortly after, a relative of one family contacted me, and I took in a family of three," he said.

In the capital, the Youth of Damascus, a grassroots initiative is supporting displaced Lebanese families by helping them find housing and manage legal, logistical, and financial challenges.

"We are doing this purely for humanitarian reasons. Our goal is to provide any possible assistance," one of the campaign's organisers, who preferred to remain anonymous, explained.

Another similar community-led initiative is the newly formed Syrian Civil Campaign to Support Displaced People from Lebanon, dedicated to assisting refugees fleeing Lebanon. One organiser told TNA that the six-day-old organisation works only for the benefit of those who escaped the carnage. One of the group's main aims is to help connect the displaced Lebanese to Syrians willing to open their homes.

In Tartus, a Syrian port city, landlords are struggling following a drop in rental demand as thousands of displaced Syrians returned to their home provinces. 

"After one displaced Lebanese family arrived in town, I welcomed them to an apartment I own and rent for income. The father asked me for the monthly rent," Issa recalled. "I told him: 'There is no rent. The price has already been paid in full—you are our brothers.'"

In the village of al-Ghor al-Gharbiya in Homs, Hassan Al-Hajj Ali also opened his house to a Lebanese family. 

"From our first meeting, I told them the house's rooms would be divided equally between my family and theirs, and we would share everything," he told TNA. "I don't deserve any credit for this. Our enemy is the same." 

The family, he added, plans to stay until their paperwork is finalised for travel to Iraq, where they have relatives.

In al-Suwayda, residents took to the streets to protest the Syrian regime, voicing solidarity with the forcibly detained and the incoming Lebanese refugees. The demonstrators expressed their readiness to open their homes to those arriving, highlighting the region's shared fate, as its people endure suffering under corrupt regimes and foreign influence.

In the latest tally from 25 September, the residents of the town of Qusayr in Homs province welcomed 352 families, according to the head of the local council, Ramez Saadiyeh. 

Other regions, such as Masyaf in Hama province, hosted 80 families, while border towns in the Damascus countryside—Madaya, Zabadani, Serghaya, and Bloudan—took in hundreds more.

According to Brigadier General Muathab al-Moudi, head of civil defence in Homs, the province has also readied five shelters capable of housing 40,000 people, with nine additional centres on standby. 

"These centres are equipped with essential amenities, from water and electricity to bedding and kitchen supplies," he told TNA.

At one such shelter, Mohammad al-Qassem, a Lebanese father who fled southern Beirut with his wife and daughter after losing his eldest child in an airstrike, told TNA he was surprised by the "outpouring of hospitality," particularly given the rising tensions between Lebanese citizens and Syrian refugees in the past.

Lebanon, home to an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees, hosts the highest number of Syrian refugees in the world. Anti-refugee sentiment has long been present in the country but has intensified since the onset of Lebanon’s economic crisis in 2019.

In recent years, local authorities and community groups have evicted Syrians without legal residency, shut down businesses employing them, and pressured landlords not to rent to them. Human Rights Watch documented several cases of forcible returns in early 2024, including a Syrian army defector and an opposition activist, deported by Lebanese security forces.

A United Nations report from March noted over 13,700 deportations or pushbacks at the Syrian border in 2023, including 600 in a single day. It also highlighted restrictions by local authorities in South Lebanon, preventing displaced Syrians from securing shelter amid ongoing cross-border hostilities.

Government facilitation

There has been additional support on a state level, as Syria's General Commission for Telecommunications is now allowing Lebanese citizens to acquire Syrian SIM cards with just their ID or passport, offering free internet packages to those who crossed the border without documentation.

Additionally, a convoy delivered 20 tons of medical supplies to Lebanon, and Syrian doctors have been asked to volunteer in local hospitals, with many already on standby. 

The Syrian government has also been facilitating the entry of Lebanese refugees.

"We fled without any form of identification; we weren't sure that we'd even be able to enter Syria," said Hiyam Abbas, a young Lebanese woman, who fled southern Lebanon with her family.

She learned through relatives already in Syria that Lebanese nationals could enter the country using either an expired passport or, in the absence of any documentation, by filling out a personal information form at the border, which serves as a temporary identification card inside Syria. 

"We crossed the border with relative ease thanks to these measures," she said.

Hezbollah and Israel have been locked in daily skirmishes since the onset of Israel's war on Gaza.

Hezbollah has vowed to keep targeting Israeli military positions in the country’s north until Israel halts its Gaza operations. For months, the violence was largely confined to the border region, but in September, Israel escalated its campaign against the group.

On 17 and 18 September, a series of booby-trapped wireless communication devices linked to Hezbollah detonated across Lebanon, killing dozens and injuring thousands, including civilians. Lebanese officials blamed the unprecedented attack on Israel, which many are calling a war crime. 

The Lebanese health ministry reported that in the past 48 hours alone, at least 105 died and nearly 359 injured. These attacks commenced just two days after Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut by dropping more than 80 massive bombs that levelled at least 4 residential buildings and killing hundreds. In retaliation, Hezbollah launched additional rocket attacks into northern Israel.

This article is published in collaboration with Egab.