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

Palmyra

Syria

November 8, 2026

Damascus 1:26 am

14°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

TOPSHOT - This picture taken around 5 kilometres west from the Turkish Syrian border city of Karkamis in the southern region of Gaziantep, on August 25, 2016 shows Turkish Army tanks driving to the Syrian Turkish border town of Jarabulus.
Turkey's army backed by international coalition air strikes launched an operation involving fighter jets and elite ground troops to drive Islamic State jihadists out of a key Syrian border town. The air and ground operation, the most ambitious launched by Turkey in the Syr

Truce brings quiet, but not stability, to Turkey-Syria border

Despite the current truce, the border between Turkey and northern Syria is still riddled with unrest.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend a news conference after a meeting on Syria in Geneva, Switzerland, August 26, 2016. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2N836

'Window closing' on US-Russia deal on Syria

It seems increasingly unlikely that the United States and Russia will conclude a deal on Syria before US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to meet on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in China on Sept. 4.

Turkish soldiers on an armoured personnel carrier drive towards the border in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 27, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX2N8HY

Did US drag Turkey into 'Syrian quagmire'?

The Turkish government remains defiant in the face of warnings from the US, but there are those who believe Ankara was forced into the Syrian quagmire by Washington.

Smoke rises from the Syrian border town of Jarablus as it is pictured from the Turkish town of Karkamis, in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 24, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX2MVAL

What comes next for Turkey after Jarablus victory?

Turkey’s strategic goals and field preparations signal that it plans to stay in northern Syria for quite some time.

Turkish and Turkish Cypriot flags wave next to a drilling tower 25 km (16 miles) from Famagusta April 26, 2012. Turkish Cypriot Leader Dervis Eroglu and Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz attended a ceremony marking the start of joint gas and oil exploration works in northern Cyprus between Turkey's state-owned energy company TPAO and the Turkish-Cypriot administration. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (CYPRUS - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY BUSINESS) - RTR318P7

How Ankara, Washington plan to achieve regional energy security

US Vice President Joe Biden was in Ankara last week, and Cyprus and energy security joined Turkey's attempted coup and the Islamic State as discussion topics.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim (R)and US Vice President Joe Biden (L) hold a joint press conference following their meeting on August 24, 2016 at the Cankaya Palace in Ankara.
US Vice President Joe Biden on August 24, 2016 said Washington had made clear that pro-Kurdish forces in Syria must not to cross west of the Euphrates River, a prospect alarming for Turkey. His comments come after Turkish troops launched an operation inside Syria to cleanse the key town of Jarabulus from Islamic State (IS) jih

Biden’s diplomatic triage in Turkey

Ankara reconsiders its Syria policy amid strains in US-Turkey ties and a reset in Iran-Turkey diplomacy.

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, flanked by Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar (2nd L) and the country's top generals, attends a wreath-laying ceremony in Anitkabir, the mausoleum of modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, ahead of a High Military Council meeting in Ankara, Turkey, July 28, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTSK1HU

Has Turkey really stepped into 'Syrian quagmire'?

Political developments in the region will determine the fate of the recent Turkish incursion into Syria.

Family members and friends of Kumri Ilter, one of the victims of Saturday's suicide bombing at a wedding, attend her funeral ceremony in southeastern city of Gaziantep, Turkey, August 22, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal. - RTX2MK3G

Was wedding blast in Gaziantep revenge for IS defeats in Syria?

Some suspect the Aug. 20 suicide bombing of a Kurdish wedding party in southern Turkey was the work of the Islamic State avenging its recent losses in Syria.

A Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet lands at Incirlik air base in Adana, Turkey, August 11, 2015. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTX1NXHJ

What's Turkey really up to in Syria?

Many observers think Turkey's true goal in entering Syria is to prevent the Kurds from dominating northern Syria, not to fight the Islamic State.

Turkish army tanks drive towards to the border in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 25, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RTX2MYJC

Will Turkey's Jarablus win lead to showdown with Kurds?

Turkey’s incursion into Jarablus and demands that Kurdish forces retreat have shaken the balance of power in the region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan during a news conference following their meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, August 9, 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin - RTSM49Z

Why Iran isn't rattled by Turkey-Russia turnabout

Post-coup Turkey raced to patch up ties with Russia, but Iran does not seem concerned that the rapprochement will be at its expense.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shake hands during a joint news conference following their meeting in Moscow, Russia, July 16, 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin - RTSI7AB

Kerry, Lavrov will meet to finalize Syria deal

US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva on Aug. 26 to try to finalize a deal on Syria that has been complicated by an escalation of fighting in Aleppo.