Damascus, Syria - September 29, 2024

The spiral of tension between Lebanon and Israel will further cause economic impacts and security threats on Syria, according to analysts in Damascus.

Israel's killing of Hezbollah's chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader who transformed Hezbollah into a military and political force in the Middle East, has left Syrian President Bashar al-Assad without one of his strongest backers.

Flags flew at half-mast across Damascus on Sept. 29 as Syria announced three days of national mourning over the death of Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese capital Beirut on Sept. 27.

In the Syrian government-controlled areas, there was a wide sentiment of frustration and sadness among Syrians. They believe that they have lost one of the supporting pillars that stood by their side during domestic war and the war against terrorism.

Nasrallah spearheaded the involvement of Hezbollah in the brutal war of its neighbor country Syria. The Syrian media spoke highly of Nasrallah, warning that his assassination might drag the whole region into an unpredictable and endless circle of escalation.

There are potential impacts on Syria if the conflict in Lebanon continues or large-scale retaliation is carried out by Hezbollah in revenge to its leader's killing.

Syrian military recently announced that five of its soldiers were killed in an Israeli air strike that hit a military site near the border crossing which is densely used by Lebanese to flee the war into Syria.

In addition, Israel announced hitting infrastructure on the Lebanese-Syrian borders to stop the transfer of weapons from Syria to Hezbollah.

At the same time, Syria continued to take a quiet policy regarding the war due to its domestic status which was described as fragile.

However, since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, Syria has been seen as a ventilator and lifesaving corridor for Israel's adversaries, leading to multiple attacks by Israel on the already struggling country.

In that context, Syria is highly predictable to be in the spot of any ground offensive by Israel in southern Lebanon, according to the analyst.

Shotlist:
Damascus, Syria - Sept 29, 2024:
1. Various of Syrian national flag flying at half-mast to mourn death of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah; traffic, pedestrians;
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sobhi, Syrian citizen (full name not given) (partially overlaid with shot 3):
"He stood with the people and the resistance of Palestine all the time, never deserted them. His attitude was heroic, and he was a man of his words.";
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3. Traffic;
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4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sanaa, Syrian citizen (full name not given):
"We do not forget his standing with us during the Syrian crisis; we shared our victories; the Lebanese and Syrian people stood together at that time. Southern Lebanon is part of our cause, so is the Palestine cause.";
5. Various of Syrian national flag flying at half-mast, traffic, pedestrians;
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Muhammad Omari, political analyst (partially overlaid with shot 7):
"There are many impacts on Syria, like the economic impact, as Syria is suffering from economic blockade, and the influx of refugees into Syria will make basic items scarce, and Syria will be in need for more resources in that frame. There are security threats, like Israel targeting Syria under the pretext of Lebanese Hezbollah militant penetration into Syria, or weapon deployment to Lebanon from Syria.";
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Jdeideh Yabous border crossing, Damascus, Syria - Sept 25, 2024
7. Various of displaced people, vehicles at border crossing;
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Jdeideh Yabous border crossing, Damascus, Syria - Sept 25, 2024
8. Various of displaced people, vehicles at border crossing;
Damascus, Syria - Oct 2, 2024
9. Various of cars, buildings destroyed by Israeli air strike.

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