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Syria

July 18, 2026

Damascus 11:48 am

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Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP via Getty Images

Syria seizes arms shipment on Iraq border destined for Hezbollah

The operation comes as part of the Syrian authorities' efforts to curb illicit arms smuggling through its territory, namely intended for Hezbollah.

A man holds a Syrian flag across the street from the White House after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with President Donald Trump at White House in Washington, on Nov. 10, 2025.

Syria, US hold first business forum since sanctions relief: What to know

The one-day forum in Damascus was organized by Syria’s Ministry of Economy and Industry and the US-Syria Business Council, which was established in Washington last June to advance trade and investment between the two nations.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) welcomes France's President Emmanuel Macron for a joint press conference in Damascus on July 7, 2026.

Explainer

How Macron seeks to carve out France's role in new Syria

French President Emmanuel Macron became the first Western leader to visit Syria since the fall of the Assad regime, showcasing Paris' support for Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa while seeking to secure a share of the country's emerging reconstruction market.

Latest News

US to drop Syria from terror blacklist

US President Donald Trump meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) on the sidelines of the NATO Summit at Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, on July 8, 2026.

Explainer

French energy, shipping giants explore Syria deals during Macron visit

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shakes hands with France's President Emmanuel Macron following a joint press conference in Damascus on July 7, 2026.

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

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is seen during an interview in Damascus with the magazine, Literarni Noviny newspaper, in this handout picture taken January 8, 2015 by Syria's national news agency SANA. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad urged states fighting terrorism to share intelligence, Syrian state media reported on January 14 saying European policies were responsible for attacks by Islamist gunmen in France last week. Condemning the Paris attacks, Assad accused Western policymakers of being short sig

Does Assad meeting signal a shift in France's policy?

A secret visit by French parliamentarians to Damascus is raising questions about a possible major shift in France's Syria policy.

A rebel fighter aims his weapon at an area controlled by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, from a rebel-controlled area in the northwestern Homs district of Al Waer February 18, 2015. Picture taken February 18. REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4Q7Y9

Questions remain over Turkey's training of Syrian opposition

Many argue that Ankara’s prime motive in signing the accord is to improve strained ties with Washington.

Rebel fighters gather near the front line in Ratain village, north of Aleppo February 17, 2015. The Syrian army backed by allied militia have captured several villages near Aleppo in battles aimed at encircling the northern city and cutting off insurgent supply lines, a monitoring group said on Tuesday. The army also took villages including Bashkuwi and Sifat, while fighting raged in Hardatain and Ratain, said the Observatory, which tracks the Syrian conflict using sources on the ground. It added that at le

Syrian regime, allies lose decisive battles in Aleppo

The regime and its allies have suffered heavy losses in an offensive against the opposition’s largest stronghold in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

A Palestinian policeman loyal to Hamas stands guard near burning tyres during a protest by Palestinians calling for reconstruction of their houses that witnesses said were destroyed by Israeli shelling during a 50-day war last summer, outside a United Nations food distribution center in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip February 16, 2015. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW) - RTR4PQSX

Regional events have Hamas in political limbo

Various events and unresolved regional crises have fed Hamas' reluctance to forge regional alliances and take decisive positions on developments in the Arab world.

Photographers and members of the media watch the Syrian town of Kobani from atop a hill on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province October 15, 2014. American-led forces sharply intensified air strikes against Islamic State fighters threatening Kurds on Syria's Turkish border on Monday and Tuesday after the jihadists' advance began to destabilise Turkey. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach (TURKEY - Tags: CONFLICT POLITICS) - RTR4A8TR

Kurdish journalists use IS media strategy to their advantage

Kurdish journalists are trying to counter Islamic State propaganda by showing the world the horrors that the group has committed.

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Turkish military mission becomes media circus

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party framed its cross-border mission to evacuate the Tomb of Suleiman Shah as a victory for the nation, but political opposition and social media commenters saw much to mock about the operation.

A woman supporter of the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement holds onto an image of the movement's slain commander Imad Mughniyeh during a Hezbollah parade in the city of Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon on December 19, 2010, to mark the 13th day of Muharram-Ashura, where believers mourn the killing of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson, Imam Hussein, in the seventh century, during the battle of Karbala in central Iraq. AFP PHOTO/MAHMOUD ZAYYAT (Photo credit should read MAHMOUD ZAYAT/AFP/Getty Images)

Was Hezbollah's Mughniyeh an unintended target?

A security source from Beirut tells Al-Monitor how the perpetrators of the 2008 assassination of Hezbollah's military commander might not have known they were targeting the elusive Imad Mughniyeh.

Turkish army enters Syria to evacuate tomb

The Turkish army successfully evacuated its soldiers from the Tomb of Suleiman Shah in Syria in coordination with Kurdish forces on the ground.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism at the State Department in Washington February 19, 2015. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4Q9O7

Can returned extremist fighters be rehabilitated?

Participants in a White House summit on countering violent extremism say the most useful aspect was exchanging information on the sidelines of the meetings about how to prevent recruitment of vulnerable youth and rehabilitate foreign fighters returning home from Syria and Iraq.

Rebel fighters of al-Jabha al-Shamiya (the Shamiya Front) sit in an armoured vehicle along a main road between Raitan and Bashkuwi villages, north of Aleppo February 19, 2015. Battles in and around the Syrian city of Aleppo have killed at least 70 pro-government fighters and more than 80 insurgents after the army launched an offensive there, a monitoring group said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Rami Zayat (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT MILITARY) - RTR4Q8LA

Should US back UN plan for cease-fire in Aleppo?

UN Syria envoy says that "assurances will not be enough" to end fighting; Turkey’s border a "strategic problem" in anti-Islamic State campaign.

Rebel fighters fire a mortar towards forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad who are stationed in Tel Merhi and Deir Adass villages, from the northwestern countryside of Deraa February 18, 2015. Heavy fighting in southern Syria has killed scores of pro-government and insurgent fighters in the past week, a group monitoring Syria's war said on Sunday, forecasting even fiercer violence as the weather clears. Picture taken February 18. REUTERS/Wsam Almokdad (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLIC

Syria opposition forces claim regime attack in Daraa futile

The opposition forces in southern Syria say that the regime, which has launched a battle with its allies Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is not advancing there.

Jordanian Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Mashal Al Zaben (C) shakes hands with Iraqi military officers at the Defence Ministry in Baghdad February 11, 2015. Zaben held talks in Baghdad with his Iraqi counterpart as Arab states continued their attacks on Islamic State (IS) militants occupying chunks of Iraq and Syria. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY) - RTR4P57F

Jordan rejects land offensive against IS, for now

Observers believe that Jordan is being dragged into a land offensive against the Islamic State in Syria, using the execution of its pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh as cover.