Overview:
A Colorado student with family in Syria reflects on how tensions between Iran, Israel and the U.S. are reviving fears of displacement and war.
When my grandmother Huda Zardy answered the phone in Syria, I asked her the question I had been afraid to say out loud: Do you regret going back? She had returned to Syria from Libya only a month earlier after more than a decade away. The war that began in 2011 ended in December 2024, and for the first time in years, my family felt safe returning home.
“I don’t regret going back,” Huda said. “I’m just disappointed. After 14 years, I returned to my country believing it was finally safe, but now it feels uncertain again.”
Her uncertainty comes as a new war spreads across the Middle East. On Feb. 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched a coordinated military attack on Iran targeting leadership sites, missile systems and nuclear facilities, beginning a rapidly escalating regional conflict.
Iran quickly retaliated with missile and drone strikes across the region, including attacks on U.S. bases and allied countries in the Persian Gulf. Within days, the fighting had expanded beyond Iran and Israel, drawing in other countries and raising fears of a much larger war.
Missiles and military activity have already affected countries across the region, including Gulf states that host U.S. military bases and neighboring countries whose airspace and infrastructure have been drawn into the conflict. Even in places where bombs are not falling, people are feeling the impact through rising prices, fear and uncertainty about what may happen next.
For me, this conflict is not just something I see in the news; it affects my family directly. Many of my family members still live in Syria, where a brutal Civil War began in 2011 and lasted until Dec. 8, 2024. My parents and I left Syria in 2013 due to violence, and we now live in Denver, CO, where I am a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School.
“Leaving felt like an escape,” said my mom, Marwa Darweesh. “We needed a safe place to live because it was too dangerous to stay. We had no choice but to leave our home, and that was very painful for us.”
Like millions of Syrians during the war, my parents believed leaving the country was the only way to keep our family safe. After thirteen years of civil war, there was finally hope when the fighting ended in December 2024. Families began returning to rebuild their lives, though insecurity and conflict continued, with fighting reported between the new authorities, the Syrian Democratic Forces and civilian groups.
“Syria has always been the place I belong, but for years it was filled with fear,” said my cousin, Noor Zardy. “After the war ended, it finally felt like a place where life could begin again, and I finally can see my future somewhere safe.”
However, with tensions rising again across the Middle East, many people worry that stability could disappear once more.
“We waited many years for the war to end and hoped life would finally become peaceful,” Noor said. “Now we are afraid that everything could change again.”
Some families had only just begun returning to Syria when the new conflict began. My mom’s side of the family, including my grandmother and uncles, had been living in Libya during much of the Syrian war. After the fighting in Syria ended in December 2024, they decided it was finally time to return.
“When I came back to Syria, I believed the worst was finally over,” Huda said. “We thought we could rebuild our lives and live in peace again. But now that things feel unsafe once more, it feels like a betrayal, like the hope we waited for so long is slowly disappearing.’”
They arrived back in Syria just a month ago. For them, the return was supposed to mark the end of years of displacement. Instead, the uncertainty has returned almost immediately.
“It is not very safe right now, and everything feels uncertain,” Huda said. “Gas prices are very high, and people wait in long, busy lines just to get it. Rent keeps going up, and everything is becoming more expensive. Our house was destroyed, and now we have to rebuild it before we can live in it again. Every move costs money, and none of my sons can find jobs. It is also very hard for people to leave or escape right now, so many families feel trapped with no safe options.”
My dad’s side of the family never left Syria. They stayed throughout the Civil War. When the war ended, there was relief and hope that the country could finally begin rebuilding. Now, that feeling is beginning to fade.
“We survived the civil war,” said my aunt, Muna Zardy, “but the thought of another war is something we don’t know if we can endure again.”
For my parents, the possibility of renewed instability carries another layer of fear. My parents recently purchased an apartment in Syria, and my family planned to return there this summer. I was looking forward to returning home, but now we’re not sure if we’ll ever get the chance.
If the conflict spreads or instability returns to Syria, that apartment — our first home there — could be destroyed before we ever step inside. When I asked my dad how he feels about the possibility of another major war in the region, he paused before answering.
“There was World War I, then World War II, and now people talk about a third World War,” he said. “It feels like we have become used to war. We treat it like it is something normal. We keep living through wars, and sometimes it feels like there will always be war but never peace. Even so, we are still searching for a safe place, and we wish for safety for people all around the world.”
For many families across the Middle East, that search for safety never truly ends. War does not just destroy buildings. It destroys stability, education, and the sense of safety people need to build a life. If the violence spreads further across the region, more families may be forced to make the same decision that my parents did: stay and risk everything, or leave their homes in search of safety.
My family hoped that after Syria’s civil war, the next generation would grow up in peace. Now, once again, we are waiting to see what happens next.
“My biggest wish is to go back to Syria and see my family again,” Marwa said. “We have been apart for 14 years, and many of our relatives are still there. I just hope that one day it will be safe enough for us to return.”
