Amnesty International Says Syria Still Not Safe for Returnees to Go Back To

Syrian refugees gather near trucks, as they prepare to go back home to Syria, in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Syrian refugees gather near trucks, as they prepare to go back home to Syria, in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Amnesty International Says Syria Still Not Safe for Returnees to Go Back To

Syrian refugees gather near trucks, as they prepare to go back home to Syria, in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Syrian refugees gather near trucks, as they prepare to go back home to Syria, in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Amnesty International said that Lebanon’s decision to resume the “voluntary return” of Syrian refugees to their homeland is “worrying” in light of the difficult circumstances these refugees are enduring in the crisis-hit country.
On X social media platform, the organization said that Lebanon has adopted a series of measures that aim at pressuring the refugees into returning to their country, and has imposed new restrictions regarding their residency, work and transportation.
Amnesty said that such measures raise concerns about the Syrian refugees’ ability to “freely consent” to their return back to war-torn Syria.
According to Amnesty, Syria is still an unsafe country for refugees to return to. It said that refugees detained in Syria were subjected to “torture, ill-treatment, including beatings and sexual violence”.
Amnesty also stated that Lebanon must respect its international obligations and humanitarian rights and halt the collective return of Syrian refugees.



Hamas Claims Attack on Israeli Bus in West Bank That Wounded 8 People, Including 4 Soldiers

Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP
Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP
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Hamas Claims Attack on Israeli Bus in West Bank That Wounded 8 People, Including 4 Soldiers

Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP
Four people suffered bullet wounds, three of them serious, and four others were lightly injured by shards of glass, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service - AFP

Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting attack on an Israeli bus in the occupied West Bank on Friday that wounded eight people, including four soldiers.

It was the latest violence to scar the territory as tensions run high 14 months into the Israel-Hamas war.

The attacker, who Hamas identified in a statement as Samer Hussein, 46, was killed by Israeli troops shortly after opening fire toward the bus at a junction near the Israeli settlement of Ariel.

The military said four soldiers were lightly wounded. Paramedics said three people were critically wounded.

Attacks by Palestinian fighters on Israelis in the volatile territory have grown more common since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, as Palestinian deaths have also spiked.  

Israeli fire has killed 796 Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023, mostly in military raids on Palestinian cities and towns. Attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property have also increased.