Hezbollah behind violence in Qusayr, Syrian refugees say

Syrian refugees in Lebanon blame the militant group Hezbollah for the ongoing violence in the flashpoint town of Qusayr near the border, Al Arabiya’s correspondent reported.

“[We were called] out of our shelters and told the Syrian army and Hezbollah are here [in Qusayr],” a Syrian woman taking refuge in Lebanon’s Wadi Khaled told Al Arabiya.

“I want to reproach [Hezbollah chief] Hassan Nasrallah,” said the women who goes by the name of Umm Ahmed. “I named my son after him, Nasrallah, Nassoura.”

“Why is [Hezbollah] attacking the Syrian people and forcing them out of their homes? Is this how you treat us? You attack us while we, Arabs, have supported your fight against Israel.”

A number of refugees who fled the violence in neighboring Syria have said they feel they are living in a “large prison” in Lebanon.

Umm Zaki, another Syrian refugee who has lost two children in Qusayr, says she could not cross over into Lebanon legally via the border checkpoints. She said that she had to use an illegal border crossing to escape the violence.

“Can’t Hezbollah see what it’s doing? Don’t they see us on satellite TV channels?” she asked.

“We arrived at the [Lebanese border] checkpoint and were denied entry… Can’t they see what we went through? I told them that we were forced to leave our home and, still, they didn’t let us through,” Umm Zaki told Al Arabiya.

Reports have emerged that refugees in Wadi Khaled have called on the UNHCR to register them in the Lebanese system and help provide them with humanitarian aid.

Al Arabiya spoke to UNHCR spokesperson Dana Suleiman.

“We have a good working relationship with the Lebanese security forces, and they are facilitating the crossing of the border. But, we, at UNHCR, cannot go register anyone in his/her residence except those suffering from a physical disability,” she told Al Arabiya.

Al Arabiya