Armed Militias and Extremist Groups

An Israeli army Merkava main battle tank is carried on the back of a trailer truck to be deployed near a watchtower of the UN-patrolled buffer zone's Quneitra checkpoint, separating Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights, on March 2, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel doubts Syria breakthrough as Sharaa signals openness to Abraham Accords

Syria's new leader seems open to joining the Abraham Accords under 'certain conditions,' but Israelis remain skeptical about his true intentions and an emerging alliance with Turkey.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

In this Dec. 10, 2020, photo released by the Royal Hashemite Court, Jordan's King Abdullah II gives a speech during the inauguration of the 19th parliament's non-ordinary session, in Amman, Jordan.

Jordan bans Muslim Brotherhood: Here's what to know about the group

The Muslim Brotherhood, which calls for the Islamization of society, is popular throughout parts of the Arab world but has been banned by several countries in the region.

Fighters loyal to the army patrol a market area in Khartoum on March 24, 2025. For nearly two years, Sudan has been ravaged by a war between the regular army and the RSF, a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people, uprooted over 12 million more and created the world's largest hunger and displacement crises. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Sudan: Over 40 dead, 400,000 displaced in RSF's siege on El Fasher

Over 40 people have been killed and approximately 450,000 displaced by the Rapid Support Forces' continued assault on El Fasher, with shelling targeting both civilian areas and refugee camps.

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa (R) and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (L) bid farewell to participants at the Syrian National Dialogue Conference.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad says Syria arrested 2 members: What we know

One of the US demands for sanctions relief on Syria is not engaging with Islamic Jihad, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.

Latest News

Feature

Nightlife rocks Raqqa as Syria’s Islamist leaders navigate power

Raqqa

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

Under US pressure, can Lebanon disarm Hezbollah without Iran's green light?

Teargas fumes erupt during clashes between supporters of the Lebanese Shiite Islamist movement Hezbollah and the Lebanese Army amidst a Hezbollah-organised rally to block the road to Beirut International Airport over a decision to bar two Iranian flights from landing there, in Beirut on February 15, 2025. An AFP correspondent said tear gas was fired to disperse crowds on February 15 after again blocking amidst calls by the Iran-backed group for a sit-in. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP) (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO/

Dario Sabaghi

By Dario Sabaghi

Exclusive

Syria's Kurds say Trump aid cuts are feeding radicalism in ISIS camps

Women are seen walking at the Roj Camp in northeast Syria, on April 8, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

US weighs plans to slash troop presence in Syria by more than half

US forces patrol oil fields near Syria's northeastern border with Turkey in the Qahtaniyah countryside in the far northeast corner of Hasakeh province on Sept. 3, 2024.

Smoke rises from the smouldering rubble at the scene of Israeli air strikes in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Beirut's southern suburbs on September 27, 2024. A source close to Hezbollah said the massive Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs flattened six buildings. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP) (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel kept Pentagon in the dark about Beirut strikes, Austin says

The White House ordered the US military to adjust force posture in the Middle East ‘as necessary’ after Israel defied Washington in a bid to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, risking war with Iran.

Commanding officers of the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State.

US, Iraq announce end of defeat-ISIS coalition, but troops may stay

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s need for a domestic political win has sent Pentagon officials back to the drawing board to find ways to keep the lid on ISIS in neighboring Syria.

Turkish-backed Syrian fighters from the Turkish-backed 1st Corps of the Samarkand Brigade take part in a military parade in the opposition-held Afrin region of northern Syria, on Nov. 23, 2022.

Interview

Syrian-Kurdish KNC leader decries abuse by Turkey-backed Sunni factions in Afrin

Kurdish National Council President Sleiman Oso told Al-Monitor that dialogue with his group's rivals, the PYD, is still possible.

Sleiman Oso

Sleiman Oso

Kurdish National Council President

Lebanese army soldiers stand guard as an ambulance rushes wounded people to a hospital in Beirut on Sept. 17, 2024.

Exclusive

Exclusive: Hezbollah suspicions forced Israel to expedite Lebanon pager attack

It was not Israel’s preferred course of action to detonate the pagers ahead of a full-scale war with Hezbollah, but security officials made an 11th-hour decision after at least two Hezbollah members suspected something was amiss with the devices.

Gabrielle Debinski

Tyler Huffman

By Gabrielle Debinski , Tyler Huffman

Ambulances are surrounded by people at the entrance of the American University of Beirut Medical Center, on September 17, 2024, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon amid ongoing cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah fighters.

Pentagon denies role in suspected Israeli pager attacks in Lebanon

Phone pagers exploded across Lebanon and in Syria, injuring thousands in a suspected Israeli attack targeting Hezbollah just a day after top Washington officials urged Israeli leaders not to escalate the conflict.

Jared Szuba

Rina Bassist

By Jared Szuba , Rina Bassist

Displaced Palestinians walk next to the border fence between Gaza and Egypt, on February 16, 2024 in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. Nearly 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are trapped in Rafah -- more than half of Gaza's populations -- seeking shelter in a sprawling makeshift encampment near the Egyptian border. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Egypt fed up with Netanyahu, but crisis with Israel deeper than Philadelphi

Bilateral relations between Israel and Egypt have been extremely tense, mostly due to disagreement over the Philadelphi Corridor, but not only that.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

HADI MIZBAN/AFP via Getty Images

US-Iraq raids puts scrutiny on Baghdad’s ability to contain ISIS

Seven US troops were injured during raids to take down senior Islamic State operatives in Iraq’s western Anbar province last week amid a spike in ISIS attacks.

A cargo ship is docked at the port of Yemen's Huthi-held city of Hodeida on July 28, 2024. Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi entity denies its ship hit as Houthis claim attack on Greek tanker

Saudi Arabia's national shipping company Bahri denied reports that its tanker Amjad came under attack by the Houthis, the Yemeni armed group that has stepped up attacks on oil tankers in the Red Sea.

A group of protesters hold placards reading "Yankee go Home - No way to USA," in Istanbul, on April 14, 2021.

Turkish ultranationalists arrested after accosting US Marines in Izmir

A mob of provocateurs of the Turkish Youth Union assaulted two US Marines while they visited the port city, shouting "Yankee go home" and thrusting a bag over the head of one of the Marines.

Houthi ships

Two oil tankers come under attack in the Red Sea, sources say

Oil tankers transiting the Red Sea are facing renewed dangers while transiting one of the world's most critical chokepoints for crude.

MUNICH, GERMANY - JANUARY 24: Pavel Durov of Vkontakte speaks during the Digital Life Design conference (DLD) at HVB Forum on January 24, 2012 in Munich, Germany. ence and culture which connects business, creative and social leaders, opinion-formers and investors for crossover conversation and inspiration. (Photo by Nadine Rupp/Getty Images)

Analysis

Telegram CEO's arrest spotlights UAE’s investment-based citizenship laws

The United Arab Emirates is showing that it takes its citizenship laws seriously and has vowed to fight for Telegram founder Pavel Durov.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Aspides

Houthis allow Greek tanker ablaze in Red Sea to be towed to safety

The Iran-backed rebels said they were responding to concerns by the European Union that the tanker endangered maritime and environmental safety in the Red Sea.