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Syria

November 1, 2026

Damascus 12:53 am

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Mohammed Mir / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Syria flash floods kill at least 5, force hundreds of families from camps

Heavy rain and flash floods left five people dead, including four children, and forced some 375 families to flee displacement camps in Syria’s Raqqa province.

A general view shows the Awad oil field in the eastern Qamishli countryside in northeastern Syria, on Feb. 15, 2026.

Interview

US oil firm HKN aims to double output in Syria's formerly Kurdish-run fields

HKN Vice President Matthew Zais tells Al-Monitor the company plans to double production at Syria’s northeastern oil fields while tackling pollution, as questions remain over the future of the Kurdish-run Jazira Oil Company.

Matthew Zais

Matthew Zais

HKN vice president for government affairs

Zaidi

Iraq's Zaidi meets Sharaa on first Syria visit: What to know

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has sought to assuage concerns about his past militant activity in Iraq, whose oil trade and security cooperation with his two country is rising.

Latest News

Syria slams Jordan over crossborder strikes, denies coordination: What to know

Mourners attend the funeral of those who were killed in airstrikes carried out by Jordan the night before on the village of Al-Taf in the Al-Lajat region, located in the northeastern countryside of Daraa, on Oct. 27, 2026.

Culture

Syrian women easy target in Sharaa’s drive to consolidate power

New female cadets from the new women's police academy attend the first cohort graduation ceremony after completing a six-month training program, in al-Tal on the northern outskirts of Damascus, on Sept. 22, 2026.

Analysis

How Israel’s elections could bring thaw with Syria

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives for the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly gathering, UN Headquarters, New York, Sept. 22, 2026.

Ezgi Akin

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

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

ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/AFP via Getty Images

Even as Putin shields Assad, Syria’s Sharaa seeks to 'redefine' Moscow ties

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in Moscow in a visit overshadowed by the presence of ousted President Bashar al-Assad in Russia and Moscow’s attempts to maintain its military presence in Syria.

Turkey, Syria hold high-level security summit as SDF integration talks ramp up

The summit comes as Turkey and Syria coordinate over the future of the Kurdish-led SDF, amid US mediation efforts to meet the year-end integration deadline with Damascus.

Yazan

Culture

Healing through art: Syria’s artists seek to unite a fractured nation

From Damascus to Idlib, a new generation of Syrian artists is reclaiming public space and rebuilding cultural life through contemporary art.

Lebanese Presidency/AFP via Getty Images

Syria’s FM pays Lebanon first official visit since Assad’s fall: What to know

Lebanon and post-Assad Syria are seeking to rebuild their relations by addressing longstanding issues that caused tension between the two countries for decades.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

US Senate approves repeal of Caesar Act sanctions on Syria: What to know

The 2019 Caesar Act imposed sweeping sanctions on Syria to hold the government accountable for human rights abuses committed during the country’s civil war.

MOHAMAD DABOUL/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria: Siege persists in Aleppo’s Kurdish enclaves despite SDF-Damascus truce

Tensions are rising over plans to integrate the Kurdish-led SDF into the new Syrian military amid clashes between government-affiliated and Kurdish forces in Syria’s largest city.

This picture taken on Aug. 20, 2021 shows a view of smoke rising from bombardment on the outskirts of Syria's rebel-held northwestern city of Idlib.

US strike in Syria kills al-Qaeda-linked planner, hints at changing militant networks

Members of Syria’s al-Qaeda branch, Huras ad-Din, have been joining Ansar al-Islam as US drone strikes have continued to pick off Huras ad-Din's leaders, a report to the UN Security Council noted in July.

A man walks past a mural depicting supporters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), one of them raising a flag showing the face of Abdullah Ocalan — founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) outlawed by Turkey, in Syria's northeastern city of Qamishli on Dec. 16, 2024.

Turkey wants PKK leader Ocalan to sway Kurdish-led SDF on joining Syria army

Ankara seeks to leverage peace talks with PKK while renewing threats against the SDF.

Members of the Syrian Kurdish Asayish security forces stand guard at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, which holds relatives of suspected Islamic State (IS) group fighters in the northeastern Hasakeh governorate, on April 18, 2025, as the Syrian Democratic Forces mount a security campaign against IS "sleeper cells" in the camp.

Damascus declares truce with Syria’s Kurdish forces after Aleppo skirmishes

US military helicopters delivered Syrian Kurdish commander Mazlum Kobane to Damascus in push to halt a burst of fighting overnight in Aleppo that risked unravelling the fragile rapprochement between Syria's two largest post-Assad forces.

OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel adapts, Turkey rises, Iran ruined: How 2 years of Gaza war reshaped Middle East

Turkey’s involvement worries Israel in Syria but also raises hopes for pressuring Hamas to agree to President Donald Trump's ceasefire proposal.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

A member of Syria's local committees votes in the country's selection process to designate an interim parliament, in Damascus on Oct. 5, 2025.

Syrian women win 4% of seats as election postponed in 12 districts

Syria has announced the preliminary results of its first parliamentary elections since the fall of the Assad regime.