At least 45,000 people have fled airstrikes and ground fighting in Syria's southwestern Deraa province, in the largest displacement in the area so far, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Backed by Russia, Syrian regime forces have ramped up attacks on rebel positions in the south, particularly its main province of Deraa.
"Our estimates are 45,000, maybe even higher," said Linda Tom, spokeswoman for the UN humanitarian coordination office (OCHA) in Syria.
The displacements have been happening increasingly fast in recent days as violence has escalated, Tom said.
"We haven't seen massive displacement in this scale in Deraa," Tom said.
The majority are fleeing from the eastern parts of Deraa province south towards the sealed border with Jordan, which has said it cannot absorb any more refugees.
“We expect the number of displaced people could more than double as violence escalates,” Bettina Luescher, spokeswoman for the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), said.
WFP had provided food to 30,000 people and plans to deliver more in the coming days over the border from Jordan, she said.
The Observatory said the overnight Israeli strikes targeted warehouses belonging to non-Syrian militias loyal to the Syrian regime which contained an arms shipment from Iran
The UN had previously warned that fighting was putting 750,000 people in rebel-held areas of the south in harm's way.
More than five million people have fled abroad since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011. Another six million are displaced inside the country.
