Syria - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Palmyra

Syria

November 7, 2026

Damascus 5:45 pm

17°C

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

Israel chooses sides in Syria

Israel warned that it would not tolerate attacks on the Syrian Druze town of Hader in the Golan Heights.

Digital archive preserves creative side of Syrian revolution

A project called "The Creative Memory of the Syrian Revolution" is building an online archive of artistic expression during the Syrian revolution, posting thousands of cartoons, songs, pictures and other mediums in which Syrians express resistance and hope.

Upcoming Putin, Trump talks should prove interesting

What is the agenda for the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin? Trump wants to talk North Korea, but Moscow is seeking a broader, more in-depth conversation on the Middle East.

Middle East developments rattle sidelined Ankara

Some argue that Ankara has to return to its former position of active neutrality if it is to regain lost influence in the region and contribute to stability.

Iraq’s intervention may change the equation in Syria's Kurdish regions

The closure of the Fish Khabur and Rabia border crossings between Iraq and Syria may jeopardize the Kurdish federal project in northern Syria.

The road to rebuilding Raqqa

The city of Raqqa, newly liberated from the Islamic State by the Kurdish-led and US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces, will now face the challenges of reconstruction and uprooting the jihadi threat once and for all.

Kurdish rift emerges between Erdogan, Putin

A fundamental disagreement over the role of Syria’s Kurds threatens to wreck Turkey’s partnership with Russia, atop already simmering tensions with the United States.

Syria's Arab, Kurdish women join forces to fight for future

Scores of Arab women are joining the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units in Syria as they see an opportunity to improve their lives and the lives of future generations of women.

'Terrorist rehab' opens its doors in northern Syria

An anti-radicalism center has opened its doors in northern Aleppo and is aimed at rehabilitating young people indoctrinated by extremist groups such as the Islamic State.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri is seen at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon October 24, 2017. Picture taken October 24, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir - RC1F0AAA54F0

After Hariri’s resignation, what’s next for Lebanon?

Saad Hariri, in Saudi Arabia, resigns as Lebanon's prime minister, leaving observers to wonder why and speculate about Lebanon's future.

Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall to meet with members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia October 30, 2017. REUTERS/Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool - RC1E30F1E010

Putin, Khamenei agree they need each other

Iran and Russia deepen energy cooperation; Iran has Hezbollah’s back; does the CIA have a back channel to Assad?

People walk near a Syrian national flag at the President bridge in Damascus, Syria March 14, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - GF10000345197

Washington silent on report US official went to Damascus

The CIA declined to comment on a report that a US official went to Damascus this week to discuss US citizens believed detained in Syria.