Syria Conflict

Syria partners with Nokia to rebuild digital infrastructure after years of war

The new Syrian government wants to expand internet access in the country after damage during the civil war and years of underinvestment due to sanctions.

Israel military vehicles drive along the border fence into Israel, near the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, July 17, 2025.

Analysis

Will Israel’s potential Syria security deal intensify its rivalry with Turkey?

Israeli experts warn that a security deal with Syria won’t ease tensions with Turkey or end the ongoing battle for regional influence.

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

Druze religious leader Hikmat al-Hijri is pictured on Dec. 28, 2024, Suwayda, Syria.

New Druze militia forms in Syria as Hijri calls for autonomy

Tensions are running high in southern Syria, despite government efforts to investigate the recent violence and deliver more aid.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel

Interview

Israel deputy FM: France’s Palestinian recognition push is 'reward' for Hamas

Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel says that French President Emmanuel Macron has undercut ceasefire negotiations and bolstered Hamas by declaring his intention to recognize Palestinian statehood and encouraging other states to do the same.

Latest News

Analysis

Turkey’s gamble: Syria defense deal signals long road to rebuilding forces

A convoy of Syrian military and security forces passes a sign for Sweida city on July 15, 2025, near Sweida, Syria.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Turkey launches military training for Syria’s new army: What to know

Members of the new Syrian government's army are seen amid battles with militias loyal to the Assad regime on the Syrian coast near Latakia, Syria, on March 7, 2025.

Nine bodies unearthed in Latakia mass grave, one of dozens found in post-Assad Syria

Workers package human remains recovered from the mass grave in Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 17, 2024.

US raid kills senior ISIS official near Syria's border with Turkey

Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan addresses the audience during a press briefing to share insights regarding regional and global developments, Istanbul, January 10, 2025.

Fidan says Turkey not seeking 'any confrontation' with Israel over Syria

“Syrian security should be decided by the Syrians,” Fidan said, including whether Damascus wants to reach understandings with the Israelis.

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

BILAL ALHAMMOUD/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

US offers Syrian government conditions for limited sanctions relief

If the conditions are met, the Trump administration would consider waivers for sanctions imposed under the Caesar Act as well as approve a two-year extension of General License 24.

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

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

Syria’s transitional government has been arresting remnants of the ousted regime, including officers involved in alleged war crimes and drug trade.

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

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.

Trump's Middle East strategy faces scrutiny as Gaza reignites

As the civilian death toll climbs in Gaza, can the self-proclaimed peacemaker president get both sides back to the negotiating table?

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

A Lebanese soldier sets up barbed wire at the Lebanon-Syria border in Al-Arida on Dec. 9, 2024.

After ceasefire, Lebanon and Syria patrol border as top US commander calls Haykal

Lebanon and Syria reached a ceasefire late Monday evening after another incident of deadly border clashes.

BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images

Israel pushes militarily in southern Syria as new strikes kill 3: What we know

Israel said earlier that it struck military sites in southern Syria while the government reported three civilians were killed.