Syria, Lebanon and Jordan Emergency Appeal 2025

Foreword by the directors of UNRWA Affairs in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan

In 2025, Palestine refugees across Syria, Lebanon and Jordan will face the impacts of a sharp rise in interrelated conflicts, deep economic crises, and layered displacements within and across their borders. These interconnected challenges demand a cohesive regional humanitarian and protection response.

The crisis in Syria stands as the deadliest conflict of the 21st century and one of the largest displacement emergencies in the world.(1) Forced to relocate beyond the country’s borders, over 6 million Syrians have become refugees while even more are internally displaced.(2) Before the crisis, 560,000 Palestine refugees were registered with UNRWA in Syria. Today, 438,000 remain of whom 40 per cent are internally displaced,(3) while one fifth have left. This includes 44,202 Palestine refugees displaced to neighbouring countries, with 20,324 in Jordan and 23,878 in Lebanon.(4) Following a prolonged impasse in the political process, the armed opposition in Syria launched a major offensive on 27 November. In the week that followed, over 1,000,000 people displaced.(5) On 8 December, as this Appeal was nearing publication, the government of Bashar alAssad fell, thousands of political detainees were released and a new caretaker administration assumed control.

In a moment filled with profound hope, thousands of the 5.6 million refugees in countries bordering Syria, along with many more displaced within the country, began their journey home. As the caretaker authorities worked to restore law and order, Israel intensified military action on Syrian soil and in the region. The transitional administration will have to consolidate governance and rebuild essential health, education and water systems, against substantial challenges to regional stability, military action on Syrian territory, and a crippling inherited economic crisis.

The vast majority of the newly displaced in Syria, whether internally displaced or fleeing recent violence in Lebanon, have initially sought shelter with family and friends, already unable to meet their own needs.(6) Even before the latest surges in local and regional violence, nearly 90 per cent of Palestine refugees in Syria lived on less than US$ 2.15 per person, per day, with 62 per cent suffering from food insecurity.(7) Malnutrition among children under five has doubled in the past two years.(8) Economic pressures (i.e., the prohibitive cost of rent in protracted displacement) have forced some of the most vulnerable Palestine refugees to return to damaged homes in Yarmouk, Ein el Tal and Dera’a Palestine refugee camps where they live in the midst of destroyed buildings and decimated water, sewage and energy infrastructure.(9) Approximately 30 per cent of populated areas in Syria, including Palestine refugee camps, remain affected by explosive remnants of war (ERW).(10)

In Lebanon, which has the highest refugee density per capita in the world, individual and community resilience is stretched to the breaking point amid chronic poverty, socioeconomic exclusion and escalating social tensions.(11) Palestine refugees, among the most vulnerable in this context, face entrenched structural marginalization on an intergenerational scale, with Palestinian refugees from Syria (PRS) enduring further hardship, as the renewal of their residency permits was halted as of May 2024. Eighty per cent of Palestine refugees in Lebanon live below the national poverty line, a figure that would stand at over 90 per cent in the absence of emergency cash assistance provided by UNRWA.(12)

Since September 2024, Lebanon has experienced its most severe conflict in two decades, triggered by heightened violence between Israel and Hezbollah, related to the war in Gaza. This conflict has destroyed homes, health facilities and water systems in the country. Nearly 900,000 people have been internally displaced,(13) with around 600,000 forced to seek safety in Syria,(14) including thousands of Palestine refugees, both those registered in Lebanon and those originally from Syria. Many are from vulnerable backgrounds, such as femaleheaded households and those already reliant on humanitarian aid.(15) Despite the conditional ceasefire of 27 November 2024, the overall situation remains precarious. Armed exchanges between the parties to the conflict continue.

In Jordan, the regional escalation of hostilities, relating to the conflict in Gaza, has negatively impacted the national socioeconomic landscape and heightened security risks.(16) Those most affected are among Jordan’s most vulnerable, including PRS, Palestinian refugees from Lebanon (PRL), Palestinian refugees from Iraq (PRI), as well as Gazans stranded in Jordan following the events of 7 October 2023,(17) and ex-Gazans(18) faced with limited access to public services due to documentation barriers. Jordan already hosts the second largest refugee population per capita in the world.(19) Rises in the cost of living further challenge the country’s capacity to manage influx of crisis-affected populations and push more Palestine refugees and other at-risk groups into deeper vulnerability.

In response to these overlapping and interlinked protracted crises and new shocks, through regionally coherent and coordinated assistance modalities under the 2025 Emergency Appeal (EA), UNRWA will continue to adapt its response to meet the evolving needs of those affected, ensuring humanitarian assistance reaches the most vulnerable. The Agency will provide cash assistance to over 600,000 vulnerable Palestine refugees across Syria, Lebanon and Jordan to meet their most basic needs in a flexible and dignified manner. UNRWA will extend rapid transitional shelter support to up to over 57,000 Palestine refugees in Syria and Lebanon, displaced by recent surges in conflict. A further 6,800 Palestine refugee in Syria will receive shelter support for more substantial repairs using the self-help approach, with the support of UNRWA engineering oversight.

Addressing the risks affecting the sustainability of returns to Palestine refugee camps, targeted shelter and protection interventions will be critical to promoting more durable solutions. In this regard, UNRWA will provide explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) to over 52,000 individuals in high-risk areas in Syria and Lebanon to enhance their safety and awareness. Across all three fields of UNRWA operations under this emergency appeal, Agency legal aid and referrals will assist 13,520 Palestine refugees, particularly those lacking official documentation and facing barriers to access essential services and legal protections. In addition, over 73,000 refugees will benefit from winterization assistance or anticipatory actions to help them withstand harsh weather conditions, including winter flooding.

Through the 2025 EA, the Agency will prioritize the adaptation of primary health care services to meet the demands of evolving emergencies, including increased nutrition response needs, as well as maintaining education during crises. Across all three fields, nearly 123,000 Palestine refugees, including nearly 82,000 children enrolled in UNRWA schools, will receive psychosocial support (PSS) associated with conflict, displacement and economic hardship, which expose them to trauma, stress and disrupted development.

UNRWA will also rehabilitate installations damaged by conflict in Syria and Lebanon to ensure service continuity in a dignified and safe environment. Maintenance and repairs will be carried out on over 200 UNRWA facilities across all three fields, including upgrades for accessibility and the installation of sustainable energy systems at critical installations, to enhance longer term environmental sustainability, as well as immediate operational capacity during emergencies.

The crises in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan are deeply interconnected, presenting compound challenges that require a cohesive regional approach to humanitarian and protection response. In this regard, UNRWA will be prepared to maintain, adapt and scale up emergency service provision, as required. In alignment with the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, the Agency will enhance collaboration with development and peacebuilding actors to address the root causes of vulnerability and promote more sustainable solutions for Palestine refugees. UNRWA will also develop humanitarian early recovery efforts to promote more sustainable solutions in Syria, while safeguarding legal status and key protection mechanisms across the region. Further, the Agency will strengthen partnerships with Member States, humanitarian actors and development organizations to ensure coordinated, impactful and sustainable support for Palestine refugees. These measures are essential to protecting and upholding the rights of the most vulnerable Palestine refugees during this period of profound change.

The stability of countries in the region, including Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, is deeply interconnected with that of their neighbours, carrying significant regional implications. Consequently, a unified regional response not only strengthens cohesion but also fosters recovery and stability across borders. Through this Appeal, UNRWA calls on Member States and partners to extend sustained and meaningful support to Palestine refugees in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. This commitment is vital to protect their survival, dignity and resilience during this period.

endnotes

1. According to the World Bank, between 2011 and 2023, over 409,000 conflict-related deaths have been recorded in Syria - more than any other conflict of the past three decades. World Bank, “Macro Poverty Outlook for Syrian Arab Republic: October 2024”, October 2024.
2. UNHCR, “Operational Portal,” accessed on 16 December 2024.
3. Given the recent return of Palestine refugees to Yarmouk, Ein el Tal and Dera'a camps, in 2025, UNRWA will conduct an assessment to update the number of refugees who remain displaced.
4. As at 30 November 2024, there were 20,324 PRS in Jordan and 23,878 PRS in Lebanon registered with UNRWA.
5. OCHA, “North-west Syria: Escalation of Hostilities - Flash Update No. 4, 8 December 2024”, 8 December 2024.
6. From late September to 28 November 2024, approximately 562,000 persons had been displaced from Lebanon to Syria. UNHCR, “UNHCR Syria Emergency Response Brief - 28 November 2024”, 28 November 2024. As at 8 December, one million people have displaced internally in Syria following major changes in internal frontlines. OCHA, “North-west Syria: Escalation of Hostilities - Flash Update No. 4, 8 December 2024”, 8 December 2024.
7. UNRWA, “Post-distribution Monitoring Survey, Syria”, September 2022. UNRWA, “Post-distribution Monitoring Survey, Syria”, March 2024.
8. UNRWA, Health Department data, 2024. Please note that, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), child wasting refers to a child who is too thin for her or his height and is the result of recent rapid weight loss or the failure to gain weight.
9. Some 90 per cent of refugees who returned to these camps cited the primary reason as the inability to afford rent in their area of displacement. UNRWA, "Living Conditions of Palestine Refugees Returning to Yarmouk - An Exploratory Shelter and Socioeconomic Analysis", June 2024.
10. UNRWA, “Protection in Syria”, 2024.
11. World Bank, “Lebanon: Poverty More than Triples over the Last Decade Reaching 44% under a Protracted Crisis”, 23 May 2024. UNHCR, “UNHCR Lebanon at a Glance”, 2024.
12. According to UNRWA data, poverty rates among Palestine refugees are extremely high, with 80 per cent reported to be living below the national poverty line (adjusted for inflation), as at March 2023. Data modelling confirmed that without the distribution of quarterly cash assistance from UNRWA, poverty would stand at over 90 per cent.
13. International Organization for Migration, “Displacement Tracking Matrix, Mobility Snapshot Round 65”, 25 November 2025.
14. From late September to 28 November 2024, approximately 562,000 persons had been displaced from Lebanon to Syria. UNHCR, “UNHCR Syria Emergency Response Brief - 28 November 2024”, 28 November 2024.
15. UNRWA, “Protection Note: Cross-border Movement of Palestine Refugees Affected by the Conflict in Lebanon”, 1 November 2024.
16. World Bank, "Jordan Economic Monitor, Summer 2024: Strength Amidst Strain: Jordan’s Economic Resilience", 2 October 2024.
17. Stranded Gazans are Palestine refugees who became stranded in Jordan following the onset of the Gaza conflict on 7 October 2024, and who have self-reported to UNRWA. The number of stranded Gazans is likely higher as not all approach the Agency for assistance.
18. Ex-Gazans refer to those who fled the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, seeking safety and stability. Many settled in Jordan, but unlike other Palestinian refugees, they are often not granted full Jordanian citizenship, leaving them in a precarious legal and socio-economic situation, with restricted access to national health care system, higher education, government aid programmes, public-sector jobs and other employment opportunities.
19. Over several decades, Jordan has received large numbers of refugees, including from Palestine, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan and Syria. UNHCR, “UNHCR Jordan Multi-Year Strategy 2023-2025 Summary”, 1 January 2023.
20. Given the recent return of Palestine refugees to Yarmouk, Ein el Tal and Dera'a camps, in 2025, UNRWA will conduct an assessment to update the number of refugees who remain displaced.