Ethnic/Religious Minorities

An Israeli soldier checks a Merkava battle tank deployed at a position in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria on March 25, 2025. Israel's military said it carried out a second strike in Syria on March 25, in response to incoming fire from across the demarcation line, hours after Syrian authorities reported that at least five people had been killed as a result of Israeli shelling. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Are Lebanon, Syria ripe for peace with Israel or on cusp of more escalation?

While some Israeli leaders hope for normalized ties with Lebanon and Syria, others warn that the uncertainty of the current situation could become permanent or deteriorate.

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

Members of a family riding a motorcycle drive past a charred car in the town of Jableh in Syria's coastal province of Latakia on March 12, 2025. At least 1,383 civilians, the vast majority of them Alawites, were killed in a recent wave of violence that gripped Syria's Mediterranean coast, a war monitor said on March 12. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Feature

Fearing for safety, Syria's Alawites who fled to Lebanon have no plans to return

More than 30 members of one family spoke to Al-Monitor after fleeing into northern Lebanon from Syria amid a spasm of sectarian violence in the country. Many remain skeptical that it's safe to return.

Katya Hovnanian-Alexanian

By Katya Hovnanian-Alexanian

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Feature

‘Afraid of what’s next’: Alawites in Syria’s Homs on edge after revenge attacks

Alawites in Homs say the regime's overthrow has fueled sectarian tensions in the divided city.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Walid Jumblatt (L), the Druze former leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), attends a meeting with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

After SDF agreement, Syria's Sharaa meets Druze leaders seeking deal

Syria’s government has yet to confirm an agreement with Druze leaders and factions in Suwayda to integrate the province into state institutions.

Latest News

Analysis

As Iran’s role recedes, Israel alarmed by Turkey-Syria-Egypt alignment

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoan (3-R) greets Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (2-L) next to Bolivia's President Luis Arce (L) and Argentina's President Javier Milei (R) before the group photo at the end of the first session of the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 18, 2024. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP) (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)

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

Analysis

As it courts Syria's Druze, will Israel counter Turkey or get cold shoulder?

Ultraorthodox Jewish men speak to soldiers standing on an armored personnel carrier in the buffer zone that separates the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and Syria, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams, Feb. 27, 2025.

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

Feature

Christians in Syria hopeful but wary of Sharaa’s intentions

church

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Analysis

Israel flexes muscles in Syria, Lebanon in warning to Sharaa, Hezbollah

TOPSHOT - Israeli Air Force F-15 and F-35 fighter aircraft fly over Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium on the outskirts of Beirut on February 23, 2025 during the funeral of slain Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine. Tens of thousands of mourners dressed in black vowed support for Hezbollah at the Beirut funeral of slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, after the group was dealt major blows in its last round of hostilities with Israel. The September killing of the charismatic leader, who led He

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

In divided Cyprus, century-old bookshop brings people together

Located in Europe's last divided city, a bookshop in Nicosia, Cyprus, has been weathering volatility since its inception in 1937.

Bishop Emmanuel

What we know about stabbing of Assyrian bishop in Australia

A suspect was detained after allegedly stabbing Mar Mari Emmanuel at Christ the Good Shepherd Church west of Sydney, though the motive is not yet known.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Louis Raphael I Sako of Iraq poses as he attends the courtesy visit of relatives following a consistory for the creation of new cardinals in the Apostolic Palace at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on June 28, 2018.

Iraq’s Sudani hosts Chaldean Patriarch in Baghdad following dispute

Patriarch Louis Sako moved from Baghdad to Erbil last year after the state revoked a decree recognizing him as head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, a move related to a dispute with the pro-Iran militia Babylon.

Ultra Orthodox Jewish youths block a road in Bnei Brak as they protest against their conscription into the Israeli armed forces, on April 1, 2024.

Analysis

Row in Israel over ultra-Orthodox draft threatens Netanyahu’s government

Ultra-Orthodox leaders are threatening to topple the government should the IDF start recruiting yeshiva students to serve in the army.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Getty

Analysis

How Israel’s far right is courting European populist, nationalist parties

Nationalist Israeli politicians have been reaching out to conservative and populist parties in Europe since Oct. 7.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Palestinians walk past the Dome of the Rock at the compound of the Al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem on Feb. 20, 2024.

What to expect at Al-Aqsa during upcoming Ramadan

Despite calls by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to limit the entry of Muslim worshipers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to allow a similar number of Palestinian worshippers as in previous years to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the month of Ramadan.

Supporters hold a poster depicting Malis interim leader and head of Junta, Colonel Assimi Goïta (L) and Guinea Interim leader and head of Junta, Mamady Doumbouya (R), in Bamako, Mali, on September 22, 2022 during Mali's Independence Day military parade. (Photo by OUSMANE MAKAVELI / AFP) (Photo by OUSMANE MAKAVELI/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

As Mali’s junta pokes at Algeria, what’s at stake for North Africa and Sahel?

Three years after severing its ties with Morocco, Algeria faces challenges in its relations with Mali and other Sahel countries.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 24: Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves 10, Downing Street after meeting Britain's Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, on March 24, 2023 in London, England. Benjamin Netanyahu visits London against a backdrop of unrest at home. Protest are being held weekly across Israel against legislation neing pushed through the Knesset by his government to restain the judiciary. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Analysis

Can't count him out: Netanyahu, allies score big in Israel's municipal elections

Despite the Likud's plunge in the polls, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party preserved most of its power in this week's municipal elections.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

AFP via Getty Images

UN accuses Sudan’s RSF of rape, ethnic killings as Hemedti courts region

A new UN report has documented the shocking brutality of the Rapid Support Forces led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Masked Palestinian protesters walk near flaming tires during clashes with Israeli forces following a rally in solidarity with Gaza by supporters of the Fatah and Hamas movements, in the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on October 13, 2023. AFP correspondents and a security official reported clashes after rallies in solidarity with war-battered Gaza in Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarm, Hebron and other cities and towns, with the Palestinian Red Crescent reporting dozens wounded across the West Bank, some cr

Analysis

As Gaza boils, West Bank implosion tops Israel's, US fears on eve of Ramadan

US and Israeli officials fear potential unrest over access to Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan and its spread to Israeli Arab communities and the rest of the region.

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

BERLIN, GERMANY - DECEMBER 4: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at Chancellory on December 4, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. The German and Brazilian governments are holding consultations today in Berlin. (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images)

Will Israel-Brazil row escalate as envoys recalled over Lula's Hitler comments?

Both Israel and Brazil are still recoiling after Brazilian President Luiz Ignazio Lula da Silva likened Israel's actions during the Gaza war to the Nazi regime.

A policeman stands guard in front of the Azerbaijan embassy in Tehran on January 27, 2023, following an attack. - Azerbaijan on January 27 said it was evacuating staff from its embassy in Tehran, blaming Iran for a "terrorist" attack in which the head of security was killed and two guards wounded. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran arrests several Azeris amid tensions with Azerbaijan

As Iranian-Azeri ties continue to be strained, Iran has arrested at least five ethnic Azeris accused of espionage and terrorism.