A week after Hezbollah's social arm launched a campaign to provide free healthcare to Syrian refugees in Lebanon, several of its fighters were reported to have died in battle in Syria. Its recent efforts suggests that the party is stepping up its PR machine in order to undo the damage that support for the Assad regime has caused it on one hand, and ease Sunni-Shia tensions that threaten to upset the status quo on the other hand.

This week, Hezbollah-sponsored mobile crash teams of doctors, pharmacists, and volunteers performed checkups and dolled out medications to the beleaguered refugees, regardless of their allegiance in Syria's conflict.  While Hezbollah has stood by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in his bid to crush Syria's unrest, its recent move marks a sharp schism in its position and begs the question, is Hezbollah's humanitarian campaign an effort to win the hearts of Syrian and Lebanese critics?

Hezbollah's decision to offer free care to the victims of Syria's crackdown came at a critical moment in the ballooning refugee crisis.  According to UNHCR, more than 23,000 refugees crossed into Lebanon in September 2012 alone, bringing the total number of Syrians receiving Lebanese government care to 80,482, of whom 78 percent are women and children.  Primarily settling in Tripoli and the Bekaa Valley, refugees have painted a dire picture of conditions inside Lebanon, where they face a host of challenges ranging from prohibitive living expenses to unemployment and rising tensions.  

Although Hezbollah seeks to mitigate the effects of the war domestically in order to maintain an upper hand in government, its military contribution to the conflict in Syria is steadily increasing.  According to Lebanese and American officials, the movement has dispatched its forces to help train and fight alongside Assad's troops. This is in expected lockstep with Iran's recent admission that its elite Revolutionary Guard forces are in Syria pursuing the same objective.  The October 2nd announcement that Ali Hussein Nassif, one of Hezbollah's senior military commanders, was killed in a clash with the Free Syrian Army is a clear indication of the group's direct and high-level military involvement in Syria's unrest. Hours later, the Free Syria Army said it would retaliate against Hezbollah for support for the regime's forces in Syria.

While Hezbollah has thus far been able to keep its domestic social services distinct from its Syria policy, the growing refugee crisis may very well force an uncomfortable intersection of two worlds the Party would prefer to keep separate.  Simply put, Hezbollah's domestic goodwill highlights the challenge it faces in balancing its regional allegiances to the Assad regime and Iran with its desire for continued domestic stability and moderation. To draw a distance from Iran and Assad is to bite the hand that feeds; to participate in Syria's civil war is proving increasingly costly.  However, by observing how Hezbollah navigates the uncertain period ahead, analysts may be able to glean a clearer understanding of where its interests truly lie.