Yahoo TV

STORY: As escalation fears grow on the border between Israel and Lebanon, many in the Lebanese capital of Beirut say the country's economy can't afford a new war.

The hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli military have taken a particularly hard toll on bus drivers - says Ali Ayoub.

He should be out driving his popular number four route...

...but he's sitting here, smoking shisha instead.

"The van is parked over there, as you can see. Look where it's parked on the side. The whole country has stopped, the situation in the whole country is bad. Nothing is working in the country."

Fellow driver Ali Mohammed al-Moqdad says he's simply given up.

"I gave back the van firstly because there is no work and secondly because I don't have the rent fee for the van. The situation is bad, this crisis is bad on everyone. There is no work at all and this is why I gave back the van."

Reuters rode along with Mohammed Noon, who, while speaking on the phone, said that the recent hostilities are directly correlated with fewer fares.

"We used to pick up seven or eight riders on this road. Now we pass and no one asks for us."

Lebanon had already been hollowed out by a five-year economic crisis, resulting in lost jobs and less need for daily commutes.  

Hezbollah and Israel have been trading rocket fire for nearly 10 months in parallel with the war in Gaza, with exchanges mostly limited to the border area, but the effects have been felt nationwide.