Beirut, Lebanon — *Basil was 15 years old when he fled the Syrian war to build a life for himself in Lebanon.
He now fears that fighting between Hamas and Israel could trigger a wider conflict that destabilises the region. That could force Syrian refugees like him to make an impossible choice: Live through a second war or return home to their repressive country.
“Returning to Syria is the last option for me,” Basil told Al Jazeera, in a barbershop in Lebanon’s capital Beirut.
“There is no safety nor stability [in Syria] until today,” he added.
Lebanon is home to 1.5 million Syrian refugees, according to government figures. Of that number, which has not been updated in years, 800,000 are registered by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Many Syrians are observing the violence on the Lebanese-Israeli border between Hezbollah and Israel. The former is allied with Hamas and is part of the so-called ‘axis of resistance’ which includes Syria and Iran.
Already, villages in southern Lebanon have started emptying out, as people flee northwards, fearing Israeli bombardment. On Thursday, Israel widened the regional ambit of the conflict by bombing Syria’s main airports to reportedly disrupt Iranian supply lines.