Live updates: Joe Biden says Israel should stop strikes on U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon

Lebanese around the world are having sleepless nights, watching the news, trying to get in touch with their parents and friends, feeling helpless about the war raging in their homeland. Even as they perform the normal rythms of everyday life, their anxieties are heightened by the distance: They are away, and the news is disturbing.

Sandra Sobh, 46, lives in Dubai where she works as a school teacher. She told NBC News she is struggling to live a normal life, waking up at 3 a.m., and watching the news before preparing her children for school. While at work, she and the other Lebanese teachers and employees are absorbed by the developments, are constantly sending each other messages about the situation.

Some of her colleagues have displaced parents, dead family members, their houses demolished. Some have lost contact with their loved ones, leaving them grappling with the fear and hope of the unknown. “Don’t think that we are in a better situation because we are away,” Sobh said.

Georges Hamad, 52, moved to France in 2006 during a monthlong war between Israel and Lebanon. “When you are away, the news is amplified. You start imagining the situation, even though you’re monitoring what’s happening,” Hamad said. “I feel guilty, because I have a normal life and my country is being destroyed.” 

“Our heart, our emotions, and our mind are in Lebanon,” he said. “I hope this time is going to be the last time and the end of all our sufferings.” 

Some Lebanese expatriates cope by trying to support their homeland from afar.

Salim Rachad, 49, works in a call center in Canada. He says the Lebanese community is sending donations and trying to help take care of families, but that the distance between him and home has left him feeling hopeless.

“How would you feel if you are away and cannot help?”