The Lebanese people have a feeling that war is closing in. Lebanese officials have been talking ominously of the possibility of an American strike on Syria and its expected impact on Lebanon politically, economically and in terms of security.

High-ranking Lebanese officials speaking to Al-Monitor claim that if the US Congress were to give President Barack Obama the green light to strike Syria, this could increase the number of displaced Syrians in Lebanon from one million, according to UN figures, to about 2.25 million.

This number constitutes a very high percentage of the population of the whole of Lebanon. It is also worth mentioning the increasing number of Palestinian refugees who escaped Syria to Lebanon. Thus, the numbers of Palestinian and Syrian refugees combined together are nearly equal to about half of the Lebanese resident population.

Should the Syrian crisis drag on for years, Lebanon will face major demographic changes that would shake its political, economic, social and security stability, given that migration is likely to increase and refugees on Lebanese territory are likely to become permanent residents.