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Ammon News - THE JORDAN TIMES - Hundreds of Syrians flooded into Jordan amid a lull in border violence on Thursday in what marked the largest single-day influx in over a month.

The Jordan Armed Forces said some 1,200 Syrians crossed into Jordan early Thursday — up from 300 on Wednesday.

Syrian rebels and activists said the bulk of the new arrivals had fled conflict-torn northern cities of Homs and Hama weeks earlier and also included displaced civilians who had been stranded along the Jordanian-Syrian border for over three weeks.

The influx came amid a rare lull in Damascus’ ongoing shelling of Syrian border towns and villages, which had prevented thousands from crossing into Jordan.

“Hundreds of families have been waiting weeks for the bombings to stop in order to enter Jordan,” said Abu Diyaa Al Hourani, commander of a Free Syrian Army (FSA) brigade stationed outside the border town of Bosra Al Sham.

“Today, many found that opportunity,” he added.

The rebel FSA claims that over 50 refuges have been killed in Damascus’ two-month military offensive on southern Syrian towns, and over 40,000 displaced civilians are now stranded in under-siege towns and villages along the border due to the violence.

Jordan has opened its borders to over 600,000 Syrians since the onset of the conflict in March 2011.

According to UN estimates, the total requirements for Jordan to mitigate the impact of the Syrian crisis is $2.1 billion for the current year ($1.3 billion for humanitarian areas, $741 million for development) and $3.2 billion ($1.95 billion for humanitarian requirements, $1.26 billion for development) for the year 2014.

In previous remarks, Planning Minister Ibrahim Saif said the government estimates the cost of hosting over 600,000 refugees at around $1.7 billion, including operational and capital investments.

In addition, “accommodating 1.1 million Syrians requires the budget allocation of $389.2 million annually to provide subsidised items and services”, he noted.