ASTANA, November 12. /TASS/. It is necessary to push the international community to allocate additional funds for accommodation of refugees in Syria, Russian Special Presidential Envoy Alexander Lavrentyev said during a press conference after the 22nd Astana Format international meeting on the situation in the Arab republic.

"Can you imagine, how difficult the situation in the Syrian economy is right now? The social and economic situation is rather difficult. Of course, the stay of such huge number of people, who arrived in hope for peace, requires very high spending," he said. "So, of course, and we talked with [UN Special Envoy on Syria Geir] Pedersen about it, it is necessary to once again push the international community to allocation of additional funds to ensure a decent living of refugees, including on Syrian territory."

Lavrentyev noted that about 400,000 refugees have arrived in Syria by this point.

"The humanitarian aspect is very important. We expect that humanitarian aid will increase not only in regards to the Republic of Lebanon, but to Syrian territory as well," the envoy said. "And not only to areas that are beyond the control of the Syrian authorities, but to the central regions under their control, as well."

The international meeting in the Astana format on the settlement of the situation in Syria was held in the capital of Kazakhstan on November 11-12. The topics of the meeting were the efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement in Syria, the release of hostages, the search for missing persons, the humanitarian situation in the country and the mobilization of efforts of the international community to contribute to the post-conflict reconstruction of the country.

The situation in the Middle East escalated dramatically when on October 7, 2023 armed Hamas supporters from the Gaza Strip penetrated Israeli territory, killing residents of border settlements and seizing more than 240 hostages. In retaliation, Israel launched a military operation in the enclave in order to destroy the military and political structures of Hamas and liberate all those hostages. The hostilities in the Gaza Strip continue to this day.