After facing repression and bombing in Beirut, a Syrian family fled to face further bombing at home.

More than a decade ago, Ahmed Yahia Dabbas escaped the continuous bombing and airstrikes in northwest Syria by fleeing to Lebanon.

Dabbas, 37, relocated to the southern suburbs of Beirut and secured employment as a doorman, subsequently establishing a new existence far from his war-torn homeland. He and his spouse are proud parents of four children, two boys and two girls, who are currently aged 4 to 9.

After their home was destroyed in Beirut, the family decided to move back to Syria and face Israel's retaliatory bombardment.

Dabbas, a Syrian refugee, spoke with Planet Chronicle Digital from northwest Syria via phone, describing his family's five-day journey from Lebanon to an area liberated from Assad regime control and the challenges they've faced as displaced people.

"We fled Lebanon to avoid bombardment and war, but it followed us, forcing us to leave everything behind in search of safety. As a result, we were forced to run away from Lebanon and return to Syria."

The family encountered numerous checkpoints manned by various security apparatuses of the Assad regime on the Syria-Lebanon border. Dabbas stated that many of the people running the checkpoints demanded money for them to pass through, and ultimately, the family paid bribes to keep moving.

After passing through multiple checkpoints, the family arrived in Aleppo city. Due to the late hour, they spent the night before proceeding to a crossing point in non-regime-held areas of Aleppo province.

Dabbas stated that while they were waiting, they were spat on, beaten, and denied food and water, just like other individuals attempting to flee Lebanon and leave regime-held areas.

Two days passed before they received any food after they arrived at the rebel side of the border. They spent one day at a Free Syrian Army checkpoint before registering with authorities in opposition areas and settling in the northern countryside of Idlib on Oct. 4.

The Dabbas family, like many others, left Syria in fear of arbitrary detention, torture, forced disappearance, and death at the hands of the government.

Gulf Arab states normalizing relations with Assad and some European countries considering forcefully sending refugees back to Syria is "scary" and "disturbing," according to Mouaz Moustafa, the executive director of SETF, who spoke to Planet Chronicle Digital.

"Syria is not safe," Moustafa stated. "Anywhere the regime holds power, people would rather continue walking after walking for so long."

In November, the U.N. refugee agency reported that over 470,000 individuals, with around 30% being Lebanese and 70% Syrian, had fled Lebanon into Syria due to Israeli bombardment.

In September 2023, Israel intensified its bombing campaign against Hezbollah after more than a year of cross-border exchanges, which began a day after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks in south Israel. The Jewish State took out several high-profile leaders of the terrorist group, including longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and senior commander Ibraham Aqil, who had a $7 million bounty on his head from the U.S. State Department.

Despite the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Lebanon in November, Dabbas stated that he and his family will not return to Beirut. The father of four explained that his brother, who is also displaced in northwest Syria, has assisted them, but they are running low on the food they received upon arrival, and he is having difficulty finding employment.

The family resides in a densely populated dwelling alongside other extended relatives who were unable to escape Syria in 2014 and are subjected to daily bombardments from the Assad regime, Russia, and Iranian-backed forces.

Dabbas stated that there is no safety and security. He shared with Planet Chronicle Digital that he has experienced an indescribable feeling of joy upon returning to his home country and being reunited with his family members. However, he desires for peace to be restored and for the bombing to cease.

Drone attacks in northwest Syria

The situation in northwest Syria has deteriorated, resulting in a rise in the number of displaced individuals and a sharp increase in drone strikes on residential areas.

Approximately 5.5 million individuals are affected by displacement in northwest Syria, with 2 million residing in camps, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

According to Ismail Alabdullah, a volunteer with Syria Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, a rescue organization founded in 2013 after the start of the Syrian civil war, the Assad regime and its allies have started a new strategy of attacking residential areas with suicide drones.

Since Nov. 10, White Helmets teams have responded to 876 attacks, with the targets often being civilian areas such as farms, towns, agricultural areas, and civilian infrastructure.

"Suicide drones are extremely dangerous, as they are inexpensive and can fly and attack anywhere they desire."

Alabdullah stated that families are fearful about sending their children to school.

"The world may believe that the bombings have stopped and Syria is safe, but the reality is that the attacks are still occurring, particularly in Idlib."

In recent months, the Syrian regime and its allies have intensified attacks against civilians in western Aleppo and eastern Idlib, resulting in the displacement of hundreds of families.

On Friday, Syrian rebels entered Aleppo, the country's second-largest city, for the first time since 2016 after launching an offensive against regime forces earlier this week.

Since the cease-fire agreement between Turkey and Russia in 2020, the recent territorial advance by Turkey was the first offensive move.

The White Helmets require assistance from the international community, as their capacity is insufficient to meet the growing need, particularly during winter and with the increasing number of displaced people.

Let's all unite to put an end to the atrocities and the violence," he stated. "Picture the children in the camps. They have no idea what a key is or what a door with a key means. Until now, they have never seen a door with a key, and they don't understand that this is their home.

"To put an end to the suffering and regain their lives, people must return to their homes and stop the whole thing."