War-weary Syrians and Lebanese watch Iran-Israel conflict from sidelines, hoping to stay out of it
DAMASCUS: In a park overlooking Damascus, 25-year-old Khaldoun Hallak has spent the past few evenings with his friends, drinking yerba mate, snacking on nuts, smoking hookah pipes and watching the sky for missiles streaking overhead.
'We've been through 14 years of war, and this is the first time Syria has nothing to do with it and we're just spectators,' Hallak said.
Since Israel launched a barrage of strikes on Iran last week and Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks against Israel, neighboring countries have been in the flight path.
Outside the scope
Downed missiles and drones have fallen in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, damaging houses, causing fires and reportedly killing one woman in Syria. But those countries have so far not been dragged directly into the conflict — which had killed at least 224 people in Iran and 24 in Israel as of Tuesday — and many in their war-weary populations are hoping it stays that way.
In Lebanon, which is still reeling from last year's war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, videos making the rounds on social media have shown revelers dancing and drinking on rooftops while projectiles flash across the sky in the background.
Firas Maksad, managing director for the Middle East and North Africa at the Eurasia Group, a New York-based risk consultancy organization, happened to be visiting Lebanon when the conflict broke out and was attending a wedding when a parade of missiles began lighting up the sky as the DJ played ABBA's disco hit 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)'. He posted a video of the scene that went viral.
'Certainly most in Lebanon and also Syria are very satisfied to be outside the scope of this,' Maksad said.
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