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

Supporters of Lebanon's President Michel Aoun cheer under a large national flag, as he prepares to leave the presidential palace in Babbda at the end of his mandate, east of the capital Beirut, on October 30, 2022. - Already reeling from three years of economic meltdown, Lebanon faces the prospect of its multi-faceted crisis deepening further when President Michel Aoun's mandate expires. (Photo by anwar amro / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s alliance with Christian FPM movement shows cracks

The presidential vacuum and ongoing cross-border hostilities have strained already deteriorating relations between the Shiite Hezbollah group and the Free Patriotic Movement.

Pakistan activists protest in Lahore on Jan. 19, 2024, after Iran launched an airstrike in Pakistan's southwest Baluchistan province.

What's behind Turkey's muted response to Iran-Pakistan escalation?

Two considerations stand out in Turkey’s muted response to recent Iranian strikes in Iraq and Pakistan.

A Baloch militant (L) hands over his gun and surrenders to Baluchistan province Chief Minister Sardar Sanaullah Khan Zehri (R) in Quetta on April 21, 2017. Around 500 Baloch rebel militants on April 21 surrendered to Pakistan's government as Islamabad pursues its development agenda linked to the ambitious China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the southwest province. / AFP PHOTO / BANARAS KHAN (Photo credit should read BANARAS KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Across Baluchistan, who are the groups targeted by Iran, Pakistan?

The cross-border strikes have raised questions about the separatist groups operating in the border area between Iran and Pakistan.

Pakistani soldiers wearing facemasks patrol near the closed Pakistan-Iran border in Taftan, as fears over the spread of the coronavirus escalate following an outbreak in neighboring Iran, Feb. 25, 2020.

What is behind Iran-Pakistan border escalation, the worst in decades?

Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province, located on the border with Pakistan, has long been plagued by poverty, protests and militant activity.

Lucy Aharish

Israeli ministry faces backlash for denying Jewish event funds over Arab anchor

Many in Israel were appalled by the Education Ministry revoking funding for a Jewish event that featured beloved Arab Israeli journalist Lucy Aharish.

A model wearing clothing from Shahira Mehrez's collection.

'Costumes of Egypt: Lost Legacies': An author's bid to save forgotten identities

Art expert Shahira Mehrez talks about her quest to recollect and preserve the Egyptian women’s traditional costumes.

A ritual of hope: Exploring Istanbul's 'First Day of the Month Church'

On the first day of 2024, hundreds from different faiths, including Muslims, flock to a famous Istanbul church, engaging in ancient rituals that transform New Year's aspirations into realities.

An undated image of Hisham Awatarni.

Mother of Palestinian student shot in Vermont: 'Hateful rhetoric’ aided attack

Al-Monitor interviewed Elizabeth Price, whose son, Hisham Awartani, was shot in the northeast US in November amid a rise in hateful actions related to the Gaza war.

A picture shows the Armenian car park in the Old City of Jerusalem on December 13, 2023. When bulldozers rolled into Jerusalem's Old City to start work on an Israeli settlement that would build a luxury hotel atop a fourth of the historic Armenian quarter, residents rapidly mobilised. Ever since the construction work began, Armenians have set up camp -- bringing tents, stoves, mattresses and a TV -- to a weeks-long sit-in to guard the land. Inside a tent, wooden planks patch up the holes left by constructio

Founder of 'Save Armenian Quarter' is confident in victory in Jerusalem land case

Hagop Djernazian expressed confidence in an interview with Al-Monitor that the community has galvanized its efforts to prevail in the case.

Entrance to the Magen Abraham synagogue in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Aug. 11, 2009.

Passing of leader of Lebanon’s tiny Jewish community comes at heavy moment

The country is now home to 29 Jews, as thousands fled during the civil war in the past century amid rising anti-Jewish sentiment.

Quique Kierszenbaum/Getty Images

Armenian clergy members attacked in Jerusalem over real estate dispute

Hooded men attacked several Armenian clergymen and theology students, apparently in relation to a disputed deal for the sale of a parking lot inside the Armenia Quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Palestinian Issa Kassissieh, dressed as Santa Claus.

In shadow of Gaza, Christmas is canceled in Israel this year

Against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, Arab Israeli municipalities — including in Nazareth, Jerusalem and Haifa — canceled all grand Christmas celebrations.