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Syria

November 7, 2026

Damascus 8:58 pm

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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

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) listens to his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh during a joint news conference in Amman, Jordan January 14, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammad Hannon/Pool (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX17E5V

War of words escalates between Jordan, Iran

Jordan’s 1994 peace treaty with Israel along with its pro-US orientation seems to have put the country on a collision course with Iran.

A portrait of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad on January 19 at the entrance of the village of Hadar in the Syrian side of Golan Heights close to Mount Haramoun which is a stratigic site that Israel occupied with Golan Heights in 1967.The Golan is at the centre of Syrian-Israeli peace negotiations. - RTXJG3W

Help comes with dangerous strings for Syrian Druze town

The Golan Heights town of Hadar has been suffering essentially siege conditions throughout the Syrian war, surrounded by the warring factions and unfriendly neighbors and manipulated by aid from both the regime and Israel.

Militant Islamist fighters take part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014. Militant Islamist fighters held a parade in Syria's northern Raqqa province to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq, a monitoring service said. The Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot previously known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), posted pictures online on Sunday of people waving black flags from cars

How the IDF is plotting Islamic State's next move

Israeli intelligence expects the Islamic State to relocate after it loses the battles over Mosul and Raqqa.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTS12NRL

Does Erdogan expect Trump to ditch Syrian Kurds?

US and Turkish presidents talk, agree to meeting in Washington; Saudi-Iraqi ties hit Iranian ceiling; Turkey sees al-Bab as safe haven for displaced Syrians.

Syria chemical attack unsettles Iran's chemical weapons survivors

The use of chemical weapons in Syria has led members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a fighting force that remembers the horror and uncertainty of the Iran-Iraq War, to be both angry and cautious about blame.

Foreign Ministers, Sergei Lavrov (C) of Russia, Walid al-Muallem (L) of Syria and Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran, attend a news conference in Moscow, Russia, April 14, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin - RTX35J4R

Russia steps up its game in Mideast diplomacy

The heavy traffic between Moscow and the Middle East after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited Russia last week signals that Russia is looking to quickly solidify its relationships with regional partners.

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis departs from Cairo International Airport in Cairo, Egypt April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTS135HK

Mattis' Mideast trip holds promise, reality check for Israel

The US defense secretary's visit to Israel is expected to strengthen an already solid relationship while making sure both parties are on the same page.

TOPSHOT - US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), made up of an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, advance in the village of Sabah al-Khayr on the northern outskirts of Deir Ezzor as they drive to encircle the Islamic State (IS) group bastion of Raqa on February 21, 2017.
The SDF made a major incursion into the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor as part of their push for Raqa, field commander Dejwar Khabat said.

/ AFP / DELIL SOULEIMAN (Photo credit should read DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Image

Syrian rebel group just trying to get home

Jaish Usud al-Sharqiya, an internationally backed armed opposition group active in southern Syria, has made significant gains recently against the Islamic State in the south, but they eventually want to return to Deir ez-Zor.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTS12NX1

Erdogan charts victory lap in Washington

Even as controversy rages in Turkey, newly empowered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to already be gaining international legitimacy and is making plans to visit Washington for formal talks.

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis is seen at the Pentagon in Arlington, VA, U.S. April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Thayer - RTX35G3Z

Why Israel will warmly welcome Mattis

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and Secretary of Defense James Mattis are expected to discuss the threat of Iran's presence in Syria at a time when Israel is pleased with the United States' involvement in the region.

Birds fly near men riding a motorcycle through a damaged neighbourhood in the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, Syria March 4, 2017. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RTS11G2W

Under Turkey's watch, al-Bab tries to rebuild

The Turkish government is working on rehabilitating the Syrian city of al-Bab after the Islamic State’s withdrawal, considering it an arrangement that benefits both sides.

U.S. soldiers take part in Exercise Eager Lion at one of the Jordanian military bases in Zarqa, east of Amman, Jordan, May 24, 2016. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTSFR5K

Will Jordan confront IS in southern Syria?

Some analysts say that recent movements and activities by the Islamic State near the Jordanian border could push Jordan to intervene militarily in southern Syria.