‘War followed us’: A Syrian family fled Beirut after Israeli bombardment to face repression, bombing at home

Ahmed Yahia Dabbas fled to Lebanon much than a decennary agone to flight the relentless bombardment and predominant airstrikes carried retired by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s authorities and its Russian allies successful northwest Syria.

Dabbas, 37, moved to the confederate suburbs of Beirut, wherever helium recovered enactment arsenic a doorman and began rebuilding a caller beingness distant from his war-torn country. He and his woman welcomed 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls, present betwixt the ages of 4 and 9.

As Israel began its retaliatory bombardment of parts of confederate Beirut successful precocious September, the household decided to determination backmost to Syria aft their location was destroyed.

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Fire and fume erupt from a gathering conscionable aft an Israeli airstrike successful Beirut's confederate Shiyah vicinity Nov. 22, 2024, amid the ongoing warfare betwixt Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP via Getty Images)

Dabbas spoke with Fox News Digital from northwest Syria by telephone successful an interrogation translated by the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit and advocacy group, wherever helium described his family’s five-day travel from Lebanon to an country liberated from Assad authorities power and the challenges they’ve faced arsenic displaced people.

"We had gone to Lebanon to flight bombardment and warfare followed us," helium said. "For the aforesaid reasons, we had to permission everything successful hunt of safety. And, so, we had to tally distant from Lebanon backmost to Syria."

Once the household reached the Syria-Lebanon border, they encountered galore checkpoints manned by assorted information apparatuses of the Assad regime. Dabbas said galore of the radical moving the checkpoints demanded wealth for them to walk through, and they yet ended up paying bribes to support moving.

Ahmed Yahia Dabbas and his 4 children during their travel from Lebanon to northwest Syria. (Ahmed Yahia Dabbas  |  Fox News Digital)

The household went done checkpoint aft checkpoint earlier yet reaching Aleppo city. By the clip they arrived, it was late, truthful they spent the nighttime earlier heading to a crossing constituent into non-regime-held areas of Aleppo province.

They past spent 3 nights successful a benignant of "no man's land" betwixt regime- and rebel-held areas of Aleppo. Dabbas said arsenic they were waiting, they were spit on, beaten and weren’t allowed to devour oregon drink, arsenic was the lawsuit with different radical who were fleeing Lebanon and looking to permission regime-held areas.

He added that 2 days went by earlier they were fixed immoderate food. They yet made it to the rebel broadside of the borderline and spent 1 time astatine a Free Syrian Army checkpoint earlier yet registering with authorities successful absorption areas and settling successful the bluish countryside of Idlib Oct. 4.

The Dabbas household spent 3 nights successful a benignant of "no man's land" betwixt regime- and rebel-held areas of Aleppo. (Ahmed Yahia Dabbas I Fox News Digital)

The Dabbas household is 1 of galore who chose to fly to non-regime-held areas of Syria amid fear of arbitrary detainment, torture, forced disappearance and adjacent decease astatine the hands of the Syrian government.

Mouaz Moustafa, the enforcement manager of SETF, told Fox News Digital it’s "scary" and "disturbing" that immoderate Gulf Arab states are normalizing relations with Assad and immoderate European countries are considering forcefully sending refugees backmost to Syria.

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"Syria's not safe," Moustafa said. "Anywhere regime-held, it is wherever radical would alternatively proceed walking aft walking for truthful long."

Syrian Red Crescent rescuers be to displaced radical arriving from Lebanon astatine the Jdeidat Yabous borderline crossing successful southwestern Syria Oct. 7, 2024. (Louai Beshara/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.N. exile agency said successful aboriginal November much than 470,000 radical — astir 30% of them Lebanese and 70% of them Syrians — had crossed into Syria from Lebanon to flight Israeli bombardment.

Israel intensified its bombing run against the violent radical Hezbollah successful September aft much than a twelvemonth of cross-border exchanges, which began a time aft the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas panic attacks successful southbound Israel. The Jewish State took retired respective high-profile leaders of the violent group, including longtime Hezbollah person Hassan Nasrallah and elder commandant Ibraham Aqil, who had a $7 cardinal bounty connected his caput from the U.S. State Department.

Although Israel and Lebanon agreed to a cease-fire woody successful precocious November, Dabbas said helium and his household won’t instrumentality to Beirut. The begetter of 4 said his brother, who is besides displaced successful northwest Syria, has helped them out, but they’re moving retired of the nutrient they received upon arrival, and he’s struggling to find a job. 

Syrians who were refugees successful Lebanon instrumentality to their location state aft a travel to the opposition-held bluish Idlib state done the crossing Aoun al-Dadat northbound of Manbij Oct. 9, 2024. (Bilal Alhammoud/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

They unrecorded successful a crowded location with different extended household members who were incapable to fly Syria successful 2014 and face bombardment "every day" from the Assad regime, Russia and Iranian-backed forces.

"There is nary information and security," Dabbas said. He told Fox News Digital he’s experienced an indescribable feeling of joyousness being backmost successful his location country, reuniting with household members, but helium wants bid and the bombing to stop.

Drone attacks successful northwest Syria

The humanitarian situation successful northwest Syria has worsened successful caller months, with some an summation successful displaced radical and a surge successful drone attacks connected civilians successful residential areas. 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates 3.5 million people are internally displaced successful northwest Syria, and 2 cardinal are surviving successful camps. 

Ismail Alabdullah, a unpaid with Syria Civil Defense, besides known arsenic the White Helmets, a rescue enactment founded successful 2013 aft the commencement of the Syrian civilian wa, told Fox News Digital the Assad authorities and its allies started a caller strategy of attacking residential areas with termination drones.

The White Helmets teams seizure footage of a drone. Suicide drone attacks person accrued successful northwest Syria successful 2024. (The White Helmets)

Alabdullah said, since Nov. 10, White Helmets teams person responded to 876 attacks. The targets are often civilian areas, specified arsenic farms, towns and cultivation areas and civilian infrastructure. 

"This benignant of weapon, termination drones, is very, precise dangerous, to beryllium honest," helium said. "They are cheap, and they tin alert anyplace they want. And they tin onslaught immoderate spot they want." 

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"Families are acrophobic to nonstop their children to school," Alabdullah added.

"Maybe the satellite inactive – they don't privation to perceive astir this. They privation to perceive that the bombings are stopped and thing is happening successful Syria, and northwest Syria is safe. It's not safe. The attacks are inactive going on, particularly successful Idlib."

Syria Civil Defence, commonly known arsenic the White Helmets, respond to an onslaught against civilians successful northwest Syria. (The White Helmets)

Syrian authorities forces and their allies intensified attacks against civilians successful occidental Aleppo and eastbound Idlib successful caller months, displacing hundreds much families.

In a astonishing development, Syrian rebels entered Aleppo, the country's second-largest city, connected Friday for the archetypal clip since 2016 aft launching an violative against authorities forces earlier this week.

Reuters noted the daze violative was the archetypal territorial beforehand since 2020 aft a cease-fire statement betwixt Turkey and Russia halted warring successful Idlib.

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Anti-regime groups instrumentality power of immoderate villages successful the occidental countryside arsenic the clashes betwixt the Bashar al-Assad authorities and the absorption equipped radical Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham proceed successful Aleppo, Syria, Nov. 27, 2024.  (Kasim Rammah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Alabdullah told Fox News Digital the White Helmets inactive request assistance from the planetary assemblage and the request is bigger than their capacity, particularly arsenic wintertime approaches and they woody with an accrued fig of displaced people.

"We request everyone to basal with america to halt the atrocities, to halt the killing," helium said. "Imagine kids successful the camps. They don't cognize the meaning of a key. Up to now, they haven't seen a doorway with a key, and they don’t cognize this is simply a doorway for their houses.

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"The full happening needs to beryllium stopped. People request to instrumentality to their homes to extremity the suffering, to get their lives back."