Syria Conflict

This picture taken from Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria shows smoke billowing above the Syrian village of Koayiah during Israeli bombardment, on March 25, 2025.

Israel carries out airstrikes in Damascus, Homs, Hama as Syria tensions flare

Israel is upping its military action against Syria despite protests from the new government in Damascus.

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa delivers a speech in Damascus on March 29, 2025. Sharaa on March 29 announced a new transitional government dominated by close allies and including one woman, replacing caretaker authorities in place since the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images)

US says Syria's transitional government a possible step forward

The State Department voiced cautious optimism over the new cabinet, which includes members of Syria’s Christian, Alawite, Druze and Kurdish minorities.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets with Chinese Ambassador to Damascus Shi Hongwei on Feb. 22, 2025.

Analysis

As China opens to Sharaa, Uyghurs and reconstruction shadow future ties with Syria

China’s approach to Syria will likely hinge on what the new government does about the Uyghurs in its ranks.

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

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

Latest News

US offers Syrian government conditions for limited sanctions relief

BILAL ALHAMMOUD/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

What's behind Syrian authorities' arrest of former Assad officers?

Men and boys stand near ruined buildings in the Tadamon suburb of Damascus, Syria, Dec. 12, 2024.

Feature

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

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)

Katya Hovnanian-Alexanian

By Katya Hovnanian-Alexanian

Trump's Middle East strategy faces scrutiny as Gaza reignites

US President Donald Trump speaks to the media during a guided tour of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts before leading a board meeting, on March 17, 2025, in Washington.

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and SDF leader Mazloum Kobane sign an agreement in Damascus on March 10, 2025.

Analysis

Syria’s Kurds win big as Sharaa shakes hands with Kobane to save his own skin

The surprise deal between Syria’s interim president and the Kurdish leader marks a pivotal moment for the country’s Kurdish minority and shifts the balance of power amid escalating violence.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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.

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)

Analysis

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

Could a new triple axis replace the yearslong threat against Israel of Iran and its proxies?

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

Sharaa Kobane

Syria's president announces deal to integrate Kurdish-led SDF into state structure

The new government in Damascus is seeking to integrate all armed groups in Syria under its command.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

SYRIA - MARCH 7: Fighters with the new Syrian government drive between Tartus and Latakia on March 7, 2025 on the road between Tartus and Latakia, Syria. Dozens of people have been killed in clashes between loyalists of the deposed Assad regime and forces of the country's new rulers. It is the heaviest such fighting since Syrian rebels toppled the Assad regime last December. (Photo by Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)

Analysis

Deadliest Syria clashes since Assad's fall test Sharaa, outside support

Experts told Al-Monitor that the clashes pose a significant challenge to Sharaa and could further deepen Washington’s uncertainty on how to engage with Damascus.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

People gather to celebrate an iftar meal organized by a humanitarian organization, as they break their fast on March 4, 2025, amid the ruins of the Qaboun neighborhood of Damascus, Syria.

Feature

Syria’s post-Assad economy falters as US stalls on sanctions relief

Three months after Syria's rebel takeover, all eyes are on Ahmed al-Sharaa and whether he can stabilize the economy as promised.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Israeli tank enters Syria buffer zone

Turkey accuses Israel of destabilizing region by driving wedge in Syria

Israel’s actions toward Syria's new interim regime risk fomenting further instability in the region, a Turkish official told Al-Monitor.

Syrian central bank

UK removes 24 Syrian entities from sanctions list, including central bank

The latest decision comes after the European Union lifted several sanctions across banking and energy on Syria on Feb. 24.

A monument with the emblem of the Syrian government stands in front of a government building in Damascus.

New Iran-backed group wants to fight plans to 'divide' Syria: What to know

A newly formed armed Syrian group called the Islamic Resistance Front in Syria, pledged to counter efforts by the United States, Israel and Turkey to divide the country following the fall of Assad.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) meets with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) in Tehran, on July 19, 2022.

Analysis

Iran spooked by Turkey’s overtures to Kurds, rising role in Syria, Iraq

Iran and Turkey’s regional rivalry deepens as Ankara moves to make peace with the Kurds and expands its influence in Syria and Iraq at Tehran’s expense.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In Paris, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Fidan and Araghchi

Iran, Turkey summon diplomats as tensions soar over Syria, Kurds: What to know

Turkish and Iranian tensions have intensified after the top Turkish diplomat criticized Tehran's use of proxy forces in an interview with Al-Jazeera Arabic last week.

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.

Analysis

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

Concerned over the growing influence of Turkey in Syria, Israel seeks ways to increase its own influence there, including renewing its partnership with the Druze.

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