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Syria

June 30, 2026

Damascus 10:08 am

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A car drives past an United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) outpost in the village of Khan Arnabah, Quneitra, southern Syria, April 29, 2026.

Syria slams Israeli 'violations' in south as ground clashes intensify: What to know

In a rare incident, the Israeli military said it fired at armed men in southern Syria, without identifying the attackers.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Supreme Court backs Trump move to end Syrians’ deportation protections

The decision affects some 6,100 Syrians who live in the United States.

Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Explainer

Syria’s energy push could soon get a major boost from Chevron: What to know

The country's leaders are seeking to translate a flurry of oil and gas agreements into concrete investments and rebuild an industry devastated by more than a decade of war, sanctions and isolation.

Latest News

Syria opens trial of Wassim al-Assad, cousin of ousted president: What we know

Defendant Wassim al-Assad appears before the Fourth Criminal Court during the opening session of his trial in Damascus on June 24, 2026.

Syria announces direct flights to Amsterdam as Europe links expand

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

This picture taken from the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on February 15, 2021, shows the border fence with the Syrian governorate of Quneitra (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel in quiet talks with Syria on prisoner swap

Israel is reportedly negotiating with Syria on the release of a woman who mistakenly crossed the border in exchange for the release of two Golan residents imprisoned in Israel.

A handout picture taken on February 15, 2021 shows a 26-year-old woman (R), who had held New Zealand and Australian citizenships, and her two children escorted by Turkish plain clothes police officers after trying to enter Turkey illegally from Syria at Reyhanli district in Hatay. - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern angrily accused Australia on February 16, 2021 of shirking its responsibility for a dual national arrested in Turkey with alleged links to the Islamic State militant group. The 40-year-o

New Zealand slams Australia for revoking citizenship of IS associate

Turkish authorities detained a woman with dual Australia-New Zealand citizenship allegedly affiliated with the Islamic State.

Smoke billows following reported shelling by government forces on the northwestern Syrian town of Barah, in the rebel held Idlib province on February 12, 2021. (Photo by Abdulaziz KETAZ / AFP) (Photo by ABDULAZIZ KETAZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Is HTS reining in or expanding jihadist network in Idlib?

Ansar al-Tawhid recently attacked a Russian operations room in the south of Idlib governate, killing and injuring several soldiers on the site, raising questions about the group’s identity and affiliations.

Damascus scrambles for more control in southern Syria

As the Russian-brokered Tafas agreement in the western countryside of Daraa between the Syrian regime and the Central Committee enters into force, the regime is now seeking to take over the towns outside its control in southern Syria before the upcoming 2021 presidential elections.

Pentagon ‘comfortable’ with troop levels in Middle East ahead of review

Whether the United States pulls forces from the Middle East to counter China may well depend on the success of Biden's diplomacy with Iran

Islamic State escalates attacks in Syrian desert

The Islamic State organization (IS) kills a large number of regime forces on an almost daily basis in the Syrian Desert, which has turned into a black hole draining the regime forces.

An aerial view taken on December 11, 2020 shows Syrian farmer Ayman Ibrahim harvesting Azolla aquatic ferns used as livestock feed in the town of Kafr Takharim in Syria's northwestern Idlib province. - To dodge skyrocketing prices for animal fodder in Syria's last major rebel bastion, farmer Ayman Ibrahim has turned to an aquatic fern used as a fertiliser in Asian rice paddies. Azolla is highly productive with the ability to double its weight in seven days, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisat

Syrian livestock depleted by war, failing economy

Syrian cattle owners and breeders are no longer able to look after their livestock in light of the soaring prices of oil derivatives, fodder and other necessary means for animal husbandry, not to mention the large number of animals that perished in the shelling.

This picture taken on November 26, 2020 shows Syrian students from the "Aleppo University in Liberated Areas", controlled by the pro-Turkey opposition, attending a tutorial at a laboratory facility in Marea in the rebel-controlled northern countryside of Syria's Aleppo province, while mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. - The university had its first batch of 32 doctors to ever graduate after its founding in 2014, headquartered in Azaz for the past three years. Humanitarian workers fear any

Understanding Turkey's vision of medical schools for small Syrian town

Ankara plans to establish two medical educational facilities in a small Syrian town across the border as Turkish entrenchment deepens in Syria.

This picture shows the Eastern Catholic Saint Elijah Cathedral, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on January 1, 2021. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia plays up ties to Syrian Christians

Russia declares its support for the Orthodox Christian militias fighting alongside the Syrian regime, as it shows great interest in the ideological factor within its expansion and domination strategy in Syria

Family of American held in Syria pins hopes on Biden

This month marks four years since psychotherapist Majd Kamalmaz disappeared in Syria.

Members of the civil society delegation attend the first meeting of the new Syrian Constitutional Committee at the United Nations in Geneva on October 30, 2019. - Syria's government may be on board for the UN-brokered review of its constitution, but it will sink the Geneva talks opening on October 30, 2019, before agreeing anything that compromises its authority, experts have said. (Photo by DENIS BALIBOUSE / POOL / AFP) (Photo by DENIS BALIBOUSE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Syrian opposition regroups as another round of talks crashes

The Syrian opposition is mulling its next moves after the faltering of yet another round of talks of the Syrian Constitutional Committee.

Workers restore a palatial Ottoman-era home called Beit al-Quwatli to turn it into a cultural institution in the old part of Syria's capital Damascus on November 10, 2020. - The old city of the Syrian capital is famed for its elegant century-old houses, usually two storeys built around a leafy rectangular courtyard with a carved stone fountain at its centre. While the capital has been largely spared the violence of Syria's almost ten-year war, several of these traditional homes have been abandoned by their

Jobless Syrians have little use for government’s new construction training program

Syrians are reluctant to apply to the technical training centers the regime plans to establish because of the shockingly low stipends provided.