Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Says Syria ‘Serious’ About Facilitating Refugees’ Return

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Karim Ali holds a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Friday (NNA)
Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Karim Ali holds a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Friday (NNA)
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Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Says Syria ‘Serious’ About Facilitating Refugees’ Return

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Karim Ali holds a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Friday (NNA)
Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Karim Ali holds a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Friday (NNA)

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Karim Ali announced on Friday his country's 'serious' endeavors in addressing the return of Syrian refugees, noting that Syria does not obstruct their return back home.

The Ambassador said that Damascus has informed the concerned countries about that.

“Syria is serious about receiving them and facilitating their return, and will not hesitate to secure everything that achieves their dignified return,” the Ambassador said following a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

A statement released by the Lebanese Presidency said the two men discussed the bilateral relations, and the refugees' return in light of Lebanon’s plan to put that return into gradual effect.

“We discussed the return of Syrian refugees, which is currently being seriously tackled, especially that Syria provided the necessary facilities and measures that help to achieve this return, in cooperation with the brotherly Lebanese state,” the Syrian Ambassador said.

He then affirmed that major countries and international organizations need to facilitate this return and help both countries to achieve it.

Ali said that what helps speed up the return of refugees is to pay the financial aid, currently paid to the refugees in Lebanon, to the returnees in Syria.

“The results would be better because the returning Syrian citizens would benefit from them in various health, educational, development and social fields,” he stressed.

The Ambassador added that a series of amnesty laws issued by Syrian President Bashar Assad were among the measures taken by his country to facilitate the return of the refugees.

Ali’s comments come in light of information that the Syrian authorities refuse to receive refugees in light of a dispute over the issue’s approach between the Lebanese state and UNHCR.

While Lebanon is working on a plan for their return at the local and international level, the UN agency considers that the political and security conditions are not appropriate for their return and refuses to give the relevant ministries in Lebanon information related to hundreds of thousands of displaced Syrians scattered in all Lebanese regions since 2011.

This led Lebanon’s caretaker Foreign Minister Abdullah Bu Habib to announce that Lebanon would take several steps, including legal measures, against relevant organizations and bodies that refuse to cooperate with the official authorities concerned with the file.



Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Israeli Missile Hits Gaza Children Collecting Water

A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian woman reacts as a young man carries the body of her child killed in an Israeli strike, in front of Gaza City's Maamadani (Baptist) hospital on July 13, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

At least eight Palestinians, most of them children, were killed and more than a dozen were wounded in central Gaza when they went to collect water on Sunday, local officials said.

The Israeli military said the missile had intended to hit an Islamic Jihad militant in the area but that a malfunction had caused it to fall "dozens of meters from the target".

"The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians," it said in a statement, adding that the incident was under review.

The strike hit a water distribution point in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing six children and injuring 17 others, said Ahmed Abu Saifan, an emergency physician at Al-Awda Hospital.

Water shortages in Gaza have worsened sharply in recent weeks, with fuel shortages causing desalination and sanitation facilities to close, making people dependent on collection centers where they can fill up their plastic containers.

Hours later, 12 people were killed by an Israeli strike on a market in Gaza City, including a prominent hospital consultant, Ahmad Qandil, Palestinian media reported. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack.

Gaza's health ministry said on Sunday that more than 58,000 people had been killed since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, with 139 people added to the death toll over the past 24 hours.

Negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire appeared to be deadlocked, with the two sides divided over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Israeli sources said at the weekend.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene ministers late on Sunday to discuss the latest developments in the talks, an Israeli official said.

The indirect talks over a US proposal for a 60-day ceasefire are being held in Doha, but optimism that surfaced last week of a looming deal has largely faded, with both sides accusing each other of intransigence.

Netanyahu in a video he posted on Telegram on Sunday said Israel would not back down from its core demands - releasing all the hostages still in Gaza, destroying Hamas and ensuring Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.