DAMASCUS, Syria—As warplanes roared across Syria’s sky, shoppers strolled in the capital’s markets and couples chatted in outdoor bars. The explosive thumps of the war nearby could be heard over a cover band performing an enthusiastic version of the 2014 pop hit “Happy.”
Ordinary Syrians in Damascus, a government stronghold, went on with their daily lives as Israel this week launched a large-scale retaliatory attack against what it called Iranian military assets in Syria—both defiant and resigned that the violence that has...