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UN Refugee Chief Expects Further Displacement Due to Gaza Conflict

Young Palestinians sit outside on mattresses covered with plastic at a camp for displaced people in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip where most civilians have taken refuge, on December 13, 2023. (Photo by Mahmud HAMS / AFP)
Young Palestinians sit outside on mattresses covered with plastic at a camp for displaced people in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip where most civilians have taken refuge, on December 13, 2023. (Photo by Mahmud HAMS / AFP)
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UN Refugee Chief Expects Further Displacement Due to Gaza Conflict

Young Palestinians sit outside on mattresses covered with plastic at a camp for displaced people in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip where most civilians have taken refuge, on December 13, 2023. (Photo by Mahmud HAMS / AFP)
Young Palestinians sit outside on mattresses covered with plastic at a camp for displaced people in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip where most civilians have taken refuge, on December 13, 2023. (Photo by Mahmud HAMS / AFP)

The United Nations refugee chief said on Wednesday that he foresees more displacement in the Middle East due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas that has internally displaced 85% of Gaza's population.

"The events that have occurred in Israel and Gaza since the 7th of October are outside the mandate of UNHCR," Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva.

"Tragically, however, we foresee more civilian deaths and suffering and also further displacement that threatens the region."

Israel forged ahead with its air and ground offensive Wednesday in Gaza.

The Israel-Hamas war has resulted in the deaths of over 18,400 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory.

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Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
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Lebanon Hopes for Neighborly Relations in First Message to New Syria Government

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (AFP)

Lebanon said on Thursday it was looking forward to having the best neighborly relations with Syria, in its first official message to the new administration in Damascus.

Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib passed the message to his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, in a phone call, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said on X.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah played a major part propping up Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad through years of war, before bringing its fighters back to Lebanon over the last year to fight in a bruising war with Israel - a redeployment which weakened Syrian government lines.

Under Assad, Hezbollah used Syria to bring in weapons and other military equipment from Iran, through Iraq and Syria and into Lebanon. But on Dec. 6, anti-Assad fighters seized the border with Iraq and cut off that route, and two days later, opposition factions captured the capital Damascus.

Syria's new de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is seeking to establish relations with Arab and Western leaders after toppling Assad.