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

Palmyra

Syria

June 22, 2026

Damascus 10:38 pm

26°C

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

Syria announces direct flights to Amsterdam as Europe links expand

The head of Syria’s General Authority of Civil Aviation and Air Transport announced that after years of suspension, Syrian Airlines would restart direct services between Damascus and Amsterdam.

US President Donald Trump meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in the Oval Office, Washington, DC, Nov. 10, 2025.

Syria’s Sharaa says he had ‘multiple discussions’ with Trump on Lebanon, favors dialogue

Syrian President Sharaa has again played down Donald Trump’s request that Syria could enter Lebanon and help disarm Hezbollah.

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.

Latest News

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

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

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

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

Members of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) arrive at the Kurdish-held city of Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobane on January 23, 2026, after they withdrew from the Al-Aqtan prison in the Raqqa province of Syria.

Exclusive

US military negotiated SDF withdrawal from Syria's Raqqa prison

Syrian government forces took full control of Raqqa after hundreds of SDF fighters were evacuated to Kobani under US-negotiated safe passage.

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Members of Syrian government takeover the Al-Aqtan prison after Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) forces withdraw from al-Aqtan prison, bound for Kobani, on the outskirts of the northeastern Syrian city of Raqqa on Jan. 23, 2026.

Syria forces push deeper into SDF territory, take over ISIS prison: What to know

The advances come as the government and Kurdish forces accuse each other of violating a ceasefire that entered into force this week in northeast Syria.

Syrian government forces ride on the roof of a vehicle as they deploy after crossing the Euphrates River in the province of Deir Ezzor, eastern Syria, on Jan. 19, 2026.

Analysis

Could US shift on Syria’s Kurds unlock progress with Turkey?

Washington’s signals that it is scaling back support for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have given US-Turkey relations their most tangible lift in years, though risks remain for Ankara.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the IAEA, speaks during the 69th annual International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) general conference on Sept. 15, 2025 in Vienna, Austria.

Interview

Grossi: IAEA seeks return to Syria as Kurdish unrest delays nuclear inspections

Hostilities between the Syrian government and the Kurdish administration in the northeast have slowed the IAEA’s monitoring of the country’s nuclear facilities, Rafael Grossi said in an interview with Al-Monitor from Davos.

Rafael Grossi

Rafael Grossi

IAEA Director General

Kobane

Syria-Kurd deal hinges on SDF integration as Barrack meets Kobane

Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are navigating tense negotiations following clashes and a temporary ceasefire in northeastern Syria.

Children and women, relatives of suspected Islamic State jihadists, walk inside al-Hol camp in the desert region of Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, on Jan. 21, 2026.

Iraq to prosecute ISIS detainees transferred from Syria: What to know

The repatriation of Iraqis accused of Islamic State ties from Syria has reignited security concerns in Iraq.

Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images

What Israel stands to lose in Syria-SDF agreement

The agreement signed Jan. 18 for the integration of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into the Syrian state will bolster not only Turkey, Israel’s foe, but also President Ahmed al-Sharaa while he negotiates a security deal with Israel.

A member of the Alawite community pastes on a wall, in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli , on December 6, 2007, pictures of Syrian opposition leader Rifaat al-Assad (R) and his son Ribal.

Rifaat al-Assad, perpetrator of Syria's 1982 Hama massacre, dies at 88

Known for his role in the 1982 Hama massacre, the late member of Syria’s former ruling family oversaw the killing of tens of thousands of civilians.

Soldiers walk past a parked car as Syrian government forces make their way to the city of Hasakeh in northeastern Syria on Jan. 20, 2026.

Syria’s Kurds accept sweetened ceasefire deal as US envoy Barrack declares SDF obsolete

The ceasefire follows intense clashes and a rapid Syrian military advance in the Kurdish-held northeast, amid concerns over ISIS prisoners.

US President Donald Trump meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House, Nov. 10, 2025.

Trump demands end to clashes with Kurds in call with Syria's Sharaa

US President Donald Trump called Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and secured a pledge from the leader to not enter al-Hasakeh as Syrian forces clashed with the Kurdish-led SDF.