Assad’s probably laughing his ass off over the fact that the Hamas-Israel skirmishes have taken his civil war off the front pages of media outlets around the world. Well played. He, like his backers in Tehran, are playing everyone for fools and know that the media feasts on conflict between Israel and its enemies and that other conflicts take a back seat - even ones that are far more deadly or have repercussions that are far more significant over the long run - such as the Syrian civil war and the potential to destabilize not only Syria, but Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq.

It’s why you’ve got Turkey and Egypt trying to further diplomatic talks - all in an effort to coopt the Syrian/Iranian angle and assert dominance among other Muslim-majority countries in the region. For now, Egypt’s gotten ahead on that front, but all are warily looking at what Tehran’s doing. None of these countries have a problem castigating or demonizing Israel (see Turkey; see also Egyptian claims about Israel starting the latest round of violence all while claiming neutrality for instance).