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Syria

November 9, 2026

Damascus 12:24 am

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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

Shi'ite, Sunni Muslim and Druze Lebanese clerics listen to Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addressing his supporters during a rally to commemorate Martyrs' Day in Beirut, February 16, 2013. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DVC0

Beirut on Edge After Nasrallah Speech

The speech by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Feb. 26 holds many similarities to his speech on May 6, 2008, writes Jean Aziz.

Israel's President Shimon Peres (R) meets with U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) in Jerusalem February 20, 2013. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3E1ET

Rubio Says US Should Give Ammunition to Syrian Rebels

Sen. Marco Rubio, a possible candidate for president in 2016, urged more U.S. support for Syrian rebels and cast doubt on the likelihood of success of negotiations with Iran.

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) walks past the Patriot system as she meets with troops from a German NATO Patriot missile battery at a Turkish military base in Kahramanmaras February 24, 2013. China and Russia are increasingly realizing that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's time is up, Merkel said on Sunday, as she visited German troops stationed with NATO Patriot missiles close to the Turkish-Syrian frontier. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3E7WR

The Coming Unknown For NATO’s Policy on Syria

Jean-Loup Samaan writes that NATO’s role in Syria is likely to remain limited, and that preserving the infrastructure of the country is essential to prevent a collapse of state authority.

Labourers reinforce the fence near Israel's border with Syria in the Golan Heights February 14, 2013. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed the territory in 1981, a move not recognised internationally. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (POLITICS) - RTR3DSEM

Bad Timing: Israel Allows Oil Exploration in Golan

Akiva Eldar writes that the decision to allow a US energy company to explore for oil in the Golan is not meant to antagonize President Obama in advance of his visit to Israel, but a sign that Israel considers the Golan an integral part of the state.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (R) meets International peace envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi in Damascus December 24, 2012 in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA. Brahimi met with Assad in Damascus on Monday to discuss a solution to the country's 21-month-old conflict. Brahimi told journalists after the meeting that he discussed the situation in Syria overall and gave his views on how to solve the crisis. He said conditions in the country were still poor. REUTERS/Sana (S

No Conditions on Syrian Dialogue

Al-Monitor’s coverage and analysis of the demonstrations in the West Bank, the role of Hezbollah in Syria, and the urgency of starting negotiations between the Syrian government and the opposition without conditions.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaks at the Opera House in Damascus January 6, 2013, in this handout photograph released by Syria's national news agency SANA. A defiant al-Assad presented what he described as a new initiative on Sunday to end the war in Syria but his opponents dismissed it as a ploy to cling to power. REUTERS/Sana (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT I

Syrian Government Insists: No Conditions on Dialogue

A Syrian official says Damascus is in principle open to dialogue, but not with preconditions, reports Jean Aziz.

Israeli soldiers patrol in the Syrian-Israeli ceasefire line near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights March 30, 2012. Israel deployed thousands of extra security forces nationwide on Friday, reinforcing border crossings with Lebanon and Syria and shutting crossings with the occupied West Bank after Palestinian groups announced plans to march on Israel's borders on a day when Israeli Arabs mark "Land Day", the annual commemorations in Israel of the killing by police of six Arab citizens in

Israel Should Build Field Hospital On the Golan Border

When the IDF assisted seven wounded Syrian rebels who reached the Israeli border, it was a one-time event, but Shlomi Eldar suggests that Israel open a field hospital to plant the seeds of reconciliation.

People cross the Lebanese-Syrian border by foot after residents blocked the road in protest against what they said were the sending of diesel to the Syrian goverment, in northern Lebanon February 13, 2013. REUTERS/Omar Ibrahim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3DQO6

Syria War Spurs US Military Aid To Lebanon

The Obama administration intends to continue aid to the Lebanese army to help prevent the spread of sectarian fighting from Syria and to counter the influence of Hezbollah.

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is seen on a screen as he speaks to his supporters during a rally to commemorate Martyrs' Day in Beirut, February 16, 2013. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DVBX

Nasrallah Threatens Israel Again

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has again threatened Israel, but the threats may stem from Hezbollah's fortunes declining as a result of the war in Syria, writes Shlomi Eldar.

Members of a Syrian refugees family, who fled the violence back home, are seen at the Domiz refugee camp in the northern Iraqi of province Dohuk July 25, 2012. The number of refugees that have fled to Iraq's Kurdistan region is in excess of 11,000 refugees, and they are settled in the region's three provinces: Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniya. As for the Domiz refugee camp, the number of refugee families reached 696 families, equivalent to 2,800 people, but on the other side of the camp, where young refugees ar

Iraqi Kurdistan Struggles to Meet Needs of Displaced Syrian Kurds

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq is struggling with the number of displaced Syrian Kurds flowing into the region, writes Abdel Hamid Zebari.

Syrian military vehicles are seen from Aboudiyeh village near the Syrian border, in northern Lebanon, October 9, 2012. REUTERS/Omar Ibrahim (LEBANON - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR38Y91

Hezbollah Defends Shiite Villages In Syria War

A recent military operation by Hezbollah to defend Lebanese Shiite villagers in Syria is another sign that the Syrian conflict is spreading to Lebanon, argues Nasser Chararah.

Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah wave flags and a picture depicting (L-R) Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Syria's late President Hafez al-Assad, father of current President Bashar al-Assad at a protest against a film made in the U.S. that mocks the Prophet Mohammad, in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil September 22, 2012. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTR38A9D

SNC Cites Hezbollah Role in Syria

Syrian opposition forces claim Hezbollah is playing a growing role in the Syria conflict, reports Ali Hashem.