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

Palmyra

Syria

June 20, 2026

Damascus 4:25 pm

35°C

Hassan Akkad speaks about fleeing Syria in 2015 and his work as a filmmaker at a BAFTA event, Sept. 2023.

Culture

In Syria, detention of Hassan Akkad raises alarm about free expression under Sharaa

Akkad, a British-Syrian filmmaker, was detained Wednesday night after his campaign questioning the whereabouts of funds allegedly pledged for relief, reconstruction and community initiatives across Syria.

Mazloum Abdi (Kobani), commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks with AFP during an interview in the countryside outside the northwestern Syrian city of Hasakah, in the province of the same name, on January 24, 2019. - Any deal between Syria's Kurds and the Damascus regime should respect the "special status" of Kurdish-led forces who fought the Islamic State (IS) group, Kobani said. The SDF control around a third of Syria after expelling jihadists from a large northeastern swathe of t

Syrian Kurd commander Kobane kicks off European tour amid scrutiny from Damascus

Commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces Mazlum Kobane is on a European tour and will likely meet French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris.

Latest News

Analysis

Why Trump’s push for Syria to confront Hezbollah is an unlikely bid

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa is welcomed by Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides in Nicosia on April 24, 2026, on the sidelines of a European summit.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

'Let Syria take care of Hezbollah': Trump criticizes Israel, leans on Sharaa to help in Lebanon

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE - JUNE 16: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit, on June 16, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. Leaders from the Group of 7 (G7) countries convened in Evian, France, near the Swiss border, for their annual summit to discuss challenges to peace and security for Ukraine and Europe, the situation in the Middle East, and other geopolitical issues. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Get

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

An Israeli soldier walks near tanks in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights September 1, 2013. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu played up Israel's ability to take on foes alone on Sunday after Washington backed off a threatened attack on Syria, prompting some Israelis to question their main ally's resolve against Iran. Israel remains technically at war with Syria, which has long demanded an Israeli withdrawal from the strategic Golan Heights, land that Israel captured in a 1967 war. REUTERS/Ronen Z

The Myth of Israeli Self-Reliance

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement that Israel relies only on itself contradicts Israel's military history, throughout which Israel has needed American arms shipments.

A U.N. chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighbourhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. A team of U.N. experts left their Damascus hotel for a third day of on-site investigations into apparent chemical weapons attacks on the outskirts of the capital. Activists and doctors in rebel-held areas said the six-car U.N. convoy was scheduled to visit the scene of strikes in the eastern Ghouta s

The Alchemy of Syria's Conflict For US, Russia

Disagreement over culpability for the Aug. 21 Syrian chemical weapons attack would not deter a US-Russian initiative to end the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends a graduation ceremony of Israeli naval officers in the northern city of Haifa September 11, 2013. Netanyahu said on Wednesday Syria must be stripped of its chemical weapons and that the international community must make sure those who use weapons of mass destruction pay a price. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTX13HV1

Israel's Brooding Versus Hopeful Expectation for Peace

Israel's brooding over Syria should be shifted to hopeful expectation of a peaceful outcome.

Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon speaks during a briefing to reporters in Jerusalem October 1, 2009. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday the United Nations would deal a "fatal blow" to prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace if it endorsed a report critical of Israel's January war in Gaza. Ayalon said Netanyahu's government was discussing the possibility of setting up an independent commission to look into the military's conduct of the Gaza war. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSA

Danny Ayalon on the US, Russia, Syria and Iran

Former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon says Israel can count on the United States in dealing with Iran.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) hold a news conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris September 7, 2013. U.S. President Barack Obama has made no decisions about waiting for a U.N. weapons inspectors' report on chemical arms use in Syria and he is keeping all his options open, Kerry said on Saturday. REUTERS/Susan Walsh/Pool (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13BSN

France Out on Limb Over Syria

An assertive French policy on Syria has revealed the marginalization of France, and the EU, in dealing with Syria.

Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah wave Hezbollah flags as they listen to him via a screen during a rally on the 7th anniversary of the end of Hezbollah's 2006 war with Israel, in Aita al-Shaab village in southern Lebanon, August 16, 2013. Nasrallah renewed his commitment on Friday to the battle in Syria, where the Shi'ite militant group has been fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad's forces, saying he was ready to go himself if needed. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON

Is Hezbollah’s Syria Approach Tied To Shiite End-Times Doctrine?

Some believe that Hezbollah’s approach to the Syrian conflict is tied into Shiite doctrine concerning Judgment Day.

Israeli soldiers walk next to an Iron Dome missile interceptor battery as it is being positioned on the outskirts of Jerusalem, September 8, 2013 REUTERS/ Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: CONFLICT POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) - RTX13D0G

Israel Escapes Retaliation Threat from Syria

Russia and Syria have offered the US a respectable way out, without damaging its deterrence, and relieving the region from an immediate retaliatory threat.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and U.S. President Barack Obama are pictured on a video screen installed in the press centre of the G20 Summit in Strelna near St. Petersburg, September 5, 2013. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX138DW

Putin, Obama Should Team Up For WMD-Free Mideast

The channel opened between the United States and Russia to resolve the Syrian chemical-weapons crisis could provide leverage for ridding the Middle East of all non-conventional weaponry.

A portrait of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is affixed on a door in old Damascus, September 8, 2013. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) - RTX13D2N

How Lucky Is Syria’s President?

Bashar al-Assad knows that despite a brutal war, his allies have his back and his opposition is fractured — and also that the end of his regime does not mean the end of the war in Syria.

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G8 Summit at Lough Erne in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland June 17, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (NORTHERN IRELAND - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX10R8R

Obama, Putin Acknowledge Limits of Power

The Russian initiative concerning Syria gives the international community a little breathing room to effect a realistic resolution to the conflict.

U.S. President Barack Obama hugs Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as President Shimon Peres (L) watches on, before Obama's departure from Tel Aviv International Airport, March 22, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3FBUO

Israel Will Pay for Obama’s Hesitancy On Syria

Israel should expect little in return for its support of US President Obama's policies on Syria.

An activist wearing a gas mask is seen in Zamalka area, where activists say chemical weapons have been used by forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad in the eastern suburbs of Damascus August 22, 2013. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX12TQ6

Israelis Question Obama Response To 'Smoking Gun' in Syria

Senior Israelis wonder what it means for US policy toward Iran that US President Barack Obama did not act on a "smoking gun" in Syria.