DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) 鈥� 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 .
鈥淲e鈥檝e been through , and this is the first time Syria has nothing to do with it and we鈥檙e just spectators,鈥� Hallak said.
Since Israel launched a on Iran last week and 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 鈥� which had killed at least 224 people in Iran and 24 in Israel as of Tuesday 鈥� and many in their war-weary populations are hoping it stays that way.
In Lebanon, which is still reeling from last year鈥檚 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鈥檚 disco hit 鈥淕imme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)鈥�. He posted a video of the scene that went viral.
鈥淐ertainly most in Lebanon and also Syria are very satisfied to be outside the scope of this,鈥� Maksad said.
No longer in the spotlight, a sense of relief
For some in the region, there is also measure of schadenfreude in watching the two sides exchange blows.
There鈥檚 a Syrian expression that literally translates as, 鈥淭he fang of a dog in the hide of a pig.鈥� It means that two people perceived as despicable are fighting with each other. The phrase has surfaced frequently on social media as Syrians express their feelings about the Israel-Iran conflict.
Watching from a park
Many Syrians resented Iran鈥檚 heavy-handed intervention in support of former President Bashar Assad during the country鈥檚 civil war, but are also angered by Israel鈥檚 incursions and airstrikes in Syria since Assad鈥檚 fall. The Sunni-majority Syrian population also widely sympathizes with the Palestinians, particularly with civilians killed and displaced by the ongoing war in Gaza.
鈥淢ay God set the oppressors against each other,鈥� said Ahmad al-Hussein, 18, in Damascus, who was sitting in a park with friends waiting to see missiles pass overhead Monday night. 鈥淚 hope it continues. We鈥檝e been harmed by both of them.鈥�
Hallak echoed the sentiment.
鈥淓very time we see a missile going up, we say, may God pour gasoline on this conflict,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f one side is hit, we will be happy, and if the other side is hit, we will also be happy. We will only be upset if there is a reconciliation between them.鈥�
In Lebanon, where last year鈥檚 Israel-Hezbollah war killed more than 4,000 people, including hundreds of civilians, and left destruction in wide swathes of the country鈥檚 south and east and in Beirut鈥檚 southern suburbs, some see retribution in the footage of destroyed buildings in Tel Aviv.
Hezbollah remains largely quiet
A U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal brought an end to the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. The Lebanese militant group 鈥� which lost much of its senior leadership and arsenal in the conflict 鈥� has remained largely quiet since then and has given that it intends to join the fray between Israel and Iran.
Israeli forces have continued to occupy several border points in southern Lebanon and to carry out regular airstrikes on what Israel says are Hezbollah facilities since the ceasefire.
鈥淥f course I am against the Israeli occupation, and Iran is an Islamic country standing up to it,鈥� said Hussein al-Walid, 34, a welder in the southern coastal city of Sidon.
Iran's axis
Despite the dramatic scenes of buildings reduced to rubble in Israel, Tehran and other Iranian cities have taken a worse pounding 鈥� and other regional countries, including Lebanon, could still be pulled into the conflict.
Caroline Rose, a director at the Washington-based New Lines Institute think tank said that while it seems 鈥渃lear that Iran-backed proxies across the region 鈥� particularly Hezbollah鈥攋ust do not have the capacity" to enter the fray, Israel could decide to expand the scope of its offensive beyond Iran.
One of the goals announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to eliminate Iran鈥檚 鈥渁xis of terrorism鈥� 鈥� the coalition of Tehran-backed armed groups across the region known as the 鈥淎xis of Resistance.鈥�
That goal 鈥渋s ambiguous and offers Israel the operational space to expand this war to countries it deems are hosting Iran-backed proxies, no matter how weak they may be,鈥� Rose said.
Al-Walid shrugged off the possibility of a new war in Lebanon.
鈥淭he war is already present in Lebanon," he said. 鈥淚srael isn鈥檛 abiding by the agreement and is striking every day."
Shouts of jubilation
Hassan Shreif, a 26-year-old student from the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, where Hezbollah has a strong base of support, said that after last year鈥檚 war in Lebanon and the heavy losses suffered by the militant group, many of its supporters 鈥渨ere clearly anguished and didn鈥檛 feel vindicated.鈥�
鈥淪o anything, even a window breaking in Tel Aviv, is (now) a victory for them,鈥� he said. Every time Iranian missiles pass overhead, he said, people in the area break out in shouts of jubilation.
At the same time, Shreif said, 鈥渢here鈥檚 always a silent group hugging the wall as we say in Arabic, treading carefully and praying we stay out of it." ___
Abby Sewell reported from Beirut. Mohammad Zaatari contributed to this report from Sidon, Lebanon.
Abby Sewell And Ghaith Alsayed, The Associated Press
