Syria Conflict

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Culture

In first, Syria approves restoration of Jewish property, synagogues

The new organization is the latest sign of Damascus’ outreach to Syria's dwindled Jewish community.

Syrian Kurds, fleeing from north of Aleppo, arrive in Tabqa, on the western outskirts of Raqa, on Dec. 4, 2024.

Feature

Kurds from Syria's Afrin languish in camps as Sharaa, SDF remain unreconciled

One year after Assad’s fall, displaced Kurds from Afrin remain in camps such as Azadi, facing harsh conditions, property disputes and an uncertain future amid stalled talks with Damascus and ongoing Turkish-backed faction activity.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Israeli special forces secure the area along the border fence, near the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on July 17, 2025.

Syria says Israel made arrest in south as US pushes for deal: What to know

Israeli military actions in Syria continue despite American efforts toward a security deal, with one minister recently saying that “war is inevitable.”

TOPSHOT - Syrian and Lebanese people in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli celebrate on December 9, 2024, after Islamist-led rebels declared that they have taken the Syrian capital in a lightning offensive, sending President Bashar al-Assad fleeing and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria. (Photo by Fathi AL-MASRI / AFP) (Photo by FATHI AL-MASRI/AFP via Getty Images)

Clashes and protests in Lebanon over Syria's anniversary: What we know

As celebrations erupted in Lebanon to commemorate the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Hezbollah supporters held counter-rallies.

Latest News

Saudi Arabia deepens footprint in Syria with four new oil and gas deals

An employee works at the Rmailan oil field in the northeastern Syria, near the border with Turkey, on Jan. 8, 2025.

Israel, US send mixed signals on Gaza phase 2 before Trump-Netanyahu meeting

US President Donald Trump speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on Oct. 13, 2025, in Jerusalem.

As Syria marks one year since Assad fall, some minorities skip celebrations

TOPSHOT - This aerial view shows people gathering to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the uprising against Syria's former president Bashar al-Assad for the first time since he was toppled in the Umayyad Square in the centre of Damascus on March 15, 2025. The rally in Damascus was the capital's first after years of repression under Assad, during which the square was the sole preserve of the ousted president's supporters. Activists called on people to hold similar demonstrations in the major cities of Homs

US set to scrap Syria sanctions as Caesar Act repeal heads to vote

People shop in a market on June 17, 2025 in Damascus, Syria.

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

As rebels advance south, how much trouble is Syria's Assad in?

Syrian rebel groups have taken Aleppo and Hama and moving south to Homs, inching closer to Damascus in an urgent threat to the Assad regime.

By Rosaleen Carroll

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

An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bachar al-Assad (L) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Dec. 2, 2024.

Analysis

Iran promises to do everything for Assad, but how far can it go?

Caught off guard by the recent rebel offensive in Syria, Iran is campaigning to galvanize regional political support for President Bashar al-Assad in what appears to be a race against time amid the Syrian army's fast-crumbling lines of resistance.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Anti-government fighters brandish their guns as they ride a vehicle in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Nov. 30, 2024.

US sees increasing possibility that Syria’s Assad falls

The administration expects the Syrian rebels to capture the central city of Homs within days, if not sooner.

Debra Tice, the mother of Austin Tice, arrives to speak at the National Press Club on May 3, 2024 in Washington, DC. The National Press Club holds a forum on World Press Freedom Day to discuss what the status is of the cases involving U.S. Journalists Austin Tice, who was kidnapped in August 2012 while reporting in Syria, Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested in March 2023 on spying charges in Russia, and Alsu Kurmasheva, a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist who is detain

Austin Tice's family says captive journalist still alive as Syria’s war rekindles

The Tice family met with White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan as Syrian rebels advanced on the strategic city of Homs.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses media during a joint press conference with German Chancellor after their meeting at the Dolmabahce Presidential Office in Istanbul on Oct. 19, 2024.

As Turkey weighs next steps in Syria, Erdogan says target is Damascus

Rapid rebel advances in Syria have shifted negotiations between Turkey, Iran and Russia to whether the Syrian government will survive.

Syrian anti-government fighters celebrate as they pour into the captured city of Hama, Dec. 6, 2024.

Analysis

Israel cheers disintegration of Iran axis, mulls collapse of Assad's Syria

While pleased about the seeming collapse of the Iran-led "axis of resistance," Israeli leaders are concerned about its speed and Syria's possible disintegration.

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

This combination of file photographs created on July 7, 2024, shows Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) in Ankara on May 29, 2023, and Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on July 16, 2023.

Turkey’s Erdogan ups rhetoric, says Assad must ‘urgently engage' with rebels

Erdogan is urging the Syrian government to urgently launch a dialogue with rebels in a bid to end the civil war after insurgents captured Hama.

US soldiers inspect the site of reported Turkish shelling days earlier on an oil extraction facility on the outskirts of Rumaylan, in Syria's Kurdish-controlled northeastern Hasakeh province on Oct. 28, 2024.

Three US troops in Syria evaluated for brain injuries after Deir ez-Zor incident

It remains unclear whether the injured American troops were involved in supporting a nearby effort by US-backed militia to oust pro-Assad forces from local villages east of the Euphrates River.

An anti-government fighter covers his ears as a multi-barrel rocket launcher fires against regime forces, in the northern outskirts of Syria's west-central city of Hama on Dec. 4, 2024.

Analysis

Rebel offensive to force Syria onto Trump’s agenda

With just over a month before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Syria’s forgotten war has reignited.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

A Syrian anti government fighter fires his rifle into the air in the streets of the west-central city of Hama on Dec. 5, 2024.

US on sidelines, Russia’s foothold tested as rebels take Syria’s Hama

The rebel blitz over the past week, alongside the collapse of Syrian army positions, has delivered the Islamist militants to the city of Hama and within 90 miles of strategic Russian bases on the Mediterranean Sea.

picture taken at the entrance of the Kweyris military airfield in the eastern part of Aleppo province, on Dec. 3, 2024, shows a portrait of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian rebels take control of Hama in major blow to Assad

Government and rebel forces had been fighting over the strategic city for days after the latter seized Aleppo.

Displaced Syrian Kurds drive a vehicle loaded with belongings on the Aleppo-Raqqa highway.

Clashes in strategic city of Hama intensify as Syrian military battles rebels

Rebel forces moved toward the central city of Hama after taking Aleppo, while the government sent reinforcements to the area.