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Syria

November 7, 2026

Damascus 10:39 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

Turkish-Greek standoff over Aegean islets continues

Disagreements over the fate of suspected Gulenist officers in Greece and the status of disputed Aegean Sea islands continue to chill Turkish-Greek relations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Jordan's King Abdullah at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Alexander Nemenov/Pool - RTSXBNR

Jordan eyes center stage in Russia’s anti-terrorism policy

Jordan's King Abdullah, who visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week and is in Washington this week, could become a key intermediary between Russia and the Trump administration.

UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura (C) shakes hands with Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov (L) as Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaber Ansari stands beside during the announcement of a final statement following Syria peace talks in Astana on January 24, 2017. / AFP / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV (Photo credit should read KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP/Getty Images)

Why are Syrian rebels stepping up efforts to isolate Iran?

The Syrian rebels’ rejection of Iran as a guarantor of the cease-fire in Syria is about much more than simple anti-Iranian sentiment among Sunni militants.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks to media after his meeting with Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, January 28, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTSXRXX

Turkey squeezed between Russia, US in Syria

US President Donald Trump’s safe zones idea and Russia’s draft constitution get cold reactions from Ankara.

FILE PHOTO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) stands next to Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump during their meeting in New York, September 25, 2016. Kobi Gideon/Government Press Office (GPO)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - RTX2YZB7

Former US envoy: Syria may be central to Trump-Netanyahu meeting

US President Donald Trump has hinted at creating safe zones in Syria in a draft executive order and in conversations with the Saudi king, while the former US ambassador to Israel says Syria will likely be a "central topic" in Trump’s upcoming meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

People walk past a billboard depicting Syria's President Bashar al-Assad at Saadallah al-Jabri Square, in the government controlled area of Aleppo, Syria December 17, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - RTX2VGTH

Is Syria any closer to political solution after Astana talks?

It remains unclear whether the Astana talks were a success or a failure, amid intransigence by the Syrian government and the opposition to keep implementing their own agendas.

A Kurdish fighter from the People's Protection Units (YPG) carries his weapon as he walks at the faculty of economics where a defaced picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in the background, in the Ghwairan neighborhood of Hasaka, Syria, August 22, 2016. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RTX2MKNT

Does Syria really want to reconcile with Kurds?

The future of Syrian Kurds is uncertain, but they have at least made it obvious that things must change.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looks at a rocket warhead tip after a simulated test of atmospheric re-entry of a ballistic missile, at an unidentified location in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on March 15, 2016. REUTERS/KCNA ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR A

Netanyahu's road to Iran runs through North Korea

Israel fears that if North Korea continues to develop its nuclear arsenal, Iran will no longer agree to restraints on its nuclear program.

Why did Russia offer autonomy for Syria’s Kurds?

Draft constitution from Russia seeks to decentralize Syrian state authority, limit presidential powers; Turkish forces struggle in two-front campaign against both the Islamic State and Syrian Kurds; Al-Monitor offers in-depth reporting on Syrian Kurdish region.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with Syrian opposition representatives in Moscow, Russia January 27, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin - RTSXL2Z

Russia offers outline for Syrian constitution

Russia’s three-pronged plan for Syria’s constitution addresses secular and Kurdish concerns, as well as governmental structure, including limits on presidential power.

Syrian Kurdish people rally on Mistanur hill during a gathering to celebrate Newroz, the Kurdish New Year, in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab, on March 21, 2015. AFP PHOTO/YASIN AKGUL (Photo credit should read YASIN AKGUL/AFP/Getty Images)

Hope and fear for Syria's Kurds

In the first of a new series of long-form, in-depth articles, Al-Monitor traveled to the northeastern Syrian town of Derik to explore the transitional and often contradictory nature of the Kurdish-administered territory still commonly called Rojava.

Israeli girls play near a sign at Mount Bental, an observation post in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that overlooks the Syrian side of the Qunietra crossing August 21, 2015. Israel said it killed four Palestinian militants in an air strike on the Syrian Golan Heights on Friday, after cross-border rocket fire from Syria prompted the heaviest Israeli bombardment since the start of Syria's four-year-old civil war. REUTERS/Baz Ratner - RTX1P1OA

What's behind Israel's decision to welcome Syrian orphans?

Right-wing nongovernmental organizations in Israel have launched campaigns in favor of Syrian refugees, calling upon the government to show that Israelis care about their neighbors being massacred daily.