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Syria

November 5, 2026

Damascus 6:06 am

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Bakr ALkasem / AFP via Getty Images

Syria foils Hezbollah-linked plot to attack Homs refinery: What to know

Syrian authorities have intensified a crackdown against Hezbollah’s alleged plans to launch attacks inside Syrian territory as well as smuggling attempts.

BING GUAN/AFP via Getty Images

Lawmakers urge Commerce Dept to ease Syria investment restrictions

Syria may be off the terrorism blacklist, but the Commerce Department’s export controls have yet to catch up.

Muzna Al-Atrash

Explainer

Meet Muzna al-Atrash, Syria's new Druze adviser for peace affairs

Atrash, from the Suwayda province and a member of the Druze community, will advise Damascus on peace affairs as it looks to assert authority in the south.

People inspect the damage at a site targeted by airstrikes

Analysis

How Syria is balancing public anger, regional stability after Jordan's strikes

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Middle East, reporting on regional politics

Latest News

Analysis

Gaza progress, Syria pullback: What Turkey wants from Israel’s next government

Demonstrators hold a banner reading "Free Gaza, free world"

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Syria flash floods kill at least 5, force hundreds of families from camps

Mohammed Mir / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Interview

US oil firm HKN aims to double output in Syria's formerly Kurdish-run fields

A general view shows the Awad oil field in the eastern Qamishli countryside in northeastern Syria, on Feb. 15, 2026.

Matthew Zais

Matthew Zais

HKN vice president for government affairs

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

The United Arab Emirates embassy is pictured in the Syrian capital Damascus on December 27, 2018 after its reopening, the latest sign of efforts to bring the Syrian government back into the Arab fold. - The UAE broke ties with Syria in February 2012, as the repression of nationwide protests demanding regime change was escalating into a devastating war. (Photo by Maher AL MOUNES / AFP) (Photo credit should read MAHER AL MOUNES/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: Oman ambassador returns to Syria

With much of Syria now under Syrian President Basher al-Assad's control, some Arab states are slowly considering the reopening of foreign missions in Damascus.

Car bombing kills more than a dozen in Syria's al-Bab

The town controlled by Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces continues to experience violence.

Assad accuses Turkey of instigating Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

The hostilities have killed hundreds of people since late September.

This picture taken on April 14, 2018 shows the wreckage of a building described as part of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC) compound in the Barzeh district, north of Damascus, during a press tour organised by the Syrian information ministry.
The United States, Britain and France launched strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime early on April 14 in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack after mulling military action for nearly a week. Syrian state news agency SANA r

Rights groups ask Germany to investigate Syria’s use of chemical weapons

The criminal complaint covers attacks on rebel territory in Eastern Ghouta in 2013 and Khan Sheikhoun in 2017.

Why Syrians are joining Turkey in Nagorno-Karabakh clash

Al-Monitor spoke with Syrian opposition fighters who joined the fight in Azerbaijan. Here is what they had to say.

A woman walks past others gathering by the back of a pickup truck at Camp Roj, housing family members of people accused to belong to the Islamic State (IS) group who were relocated from al-Hol camp, in the countryside near al-Malikiyah (Derik) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 30, 2020. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Kurdish authorities set to release Syrians from camp for IS families

Syrian detainees — mostly women and children family members of Islamic State terrorists — are to be released from the notorious detention camp al-Hol, yet foreigners will remain.

STEPANAKERT, NAGORNO-KARABAKH - OCTOBER 2: Journalists take pictures and video of a crater left by a bomb that fell outside a fire station on October 2, 2020 in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh. A decades-old conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has reignited in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, recognized by most countries as part of Azerbaijan, but controlled by ethnic Armenians since a 1994 ceasefire. Dozens have been reported killed in the recent fighting, in which both countries blame the other

Did Erdogan approve Azerbaijan escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh?

The Turkish president is the author of a militarized regional policy that now stretches from the Caucuses to Libya.

STEPANAKERT, NAGORNO-KARABAKH - OCTOBER 2: An emergency services member stands atop the site of a grass fire started by a bomb that fell nearby on October 2, 2020 in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh. A decades-old conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has reignited in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, recognized by most countries as part of Azerbaijan, but controlled by ethnic Armenians since a 1994 ceasefire. Dozens have been reported killed in the recent fighting, in which both countries blame the

Syrian fighters add snarls to tangled south Caucasus

Clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia seem to have taken a dangerous turn with conflicting reports of Turkey bringing in Syrian mercenaries.

Passengers, wearing protective face masks, arrive at the Damascus International airport in the Syrian capital on October 1, 2020. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria resumes commercial flights out of Damascus

The first international flight in six months departed today for Cairo.

Italian police displayed a confiscated Islamic State (IS) during a press conference on anti-terrorism operation at the police headquarters in Rome.
Hmidi Saber, a suspected member of Ansar al-Sharia, a Libyan group linked to al-Qaeda, was arrested on January 10, 2017 in an anti-terrorism operation called 'Black Flag'. / AFP / TIZIANA FABI (Photo credit should read TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images)

Terror charges follow Islamic State woman repatriated to Italy

An Italian woman and her four children have been repatriated to Italy, where she was arrested on terror-related charges for having gone to Syria with her husband to join the Islamic State.

US sanctions Syria’s central bank chief, intel head

The Trump administration sanctioned more than a dozen Syrian officials and entities in its latest push to choke off the regime's financial network.

Egypt cracks down on Syrian businesses allegedly tied to Brotherhood

Egypt is going after certain Syrian businesses that have flourished, citing national security.