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September 2, 2026

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Tribal and Bedouin fighters deploy in the western neighborhood of southern Syria's predominantly Druze city of Suwayda amid clashes with Druze gunmen on July 19, 2025.

Fresh fighting in Syria's Suwayda leaves one dead: What to know

Renewed clashes in Suwayda highlight the fragile security situation in the Druze-majority province.

Ongoing construction work is pictured at a site in Marota City, a new mixed-use development project near the Umayyad Square in Damascus on July 22, 2026. Syria's new leaders, who inherited a dilapidated economy, are trying to attract capital without waiting for the full lifting of international sanctions. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP via Getty Images)

UAE investment fuels Syria's postwar economic recovery with $7B property deal

The deal would see UAE-based Arada develop a major real estate project in Damascus.

JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

UAE gauges new Lebanon deals amid Levant economic stabilization push

Beirut welcomed a high-level business delegation from the UAE in late August as Abu Dhabi pursues new regional economic engagement amid Iran's waning influence.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

Analysis

Why Turkey welcomes Israel-Syria talks despite mounting red lines

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrive for a joint press conference following their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Feb. 4, 2025.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Sharaa taps Visa as Syria reconnects to global finance: What to know

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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

Smoke billows following reported shelling by government forces on the northwestern Syrian town of Barah, in the rebel held Idlib province on February 12, 2021. (Photo by Abdulaziz KETAZ / AFP) (Photo by ABDULAZIZ KETAZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Is HTS reining in or expanding jihadist network in Idlib?

Ansar al-Tawhid recently attacked a Russian operations room in the south of Idlib governate, killing and injuring several soldiers on the site, raising questions about the group’s identity and affiliations.

Damascus scrambles for more control in southern Syria

As the Russian-brokered Tafas agreement in the western countryside of Daraa between the Syrian regime and the Central Committee enters into force, the regime is now seeking to take over the towns outside its control in southern Syria before the upcoming 2021 presidential elections.

Pentagon ‘comfortable’ with troop levels in Middle East ahead of review

Whether the United States pulls forces from the Middle East to counter China may well depend on the success of Biden's diplomacy with Iran

Islamic State escalates attacks in Syrian desert

The Islamic State organization (IS) kills a large number of regime forces on an almost daily basis in the Syrian Desert, which has turned into a black hole draining the regime forces.

An aerial view taken on December 11, 2020 shows Syrian farmer Ayman Ibrahim harvesting Azolla aquatic ferns used as livestock feed in the town of Kafr Takharim in Syria's northwestern Idlib province. - To dodge skyrocketing prices for animal fodder in Syria's last major rebel bastion, farmer Ayman Ibrahim has turned to an aquatic fern used as a fertiliser in Asian rice paddies. Azolla is highly productive with the ability to double its weight in seven days, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisat

Syrian livestock depleted by war, failing economy

Syrian cattle owners and breeders are no longer able to look after their livestock in light of the soaring prices of oil derivatives, fodder and other necessary means for animal husbandry, not to mention the large number of animals that perished in the shelling.

This picture taken on November 26, 2020 shows Syrian students from the "Aleppo University in Liberated Areas", controlled by the pro-Turkey opposition, attending a tutorial at a laboratory facility in Marea in the rebel-controlled northern countryside of Syria's Aleppo province, while mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. - The university had its first batch of 32 doctors to ever graduate after its founding in 2014, headquartered in Azaz for the past three years. Humanitarian workers fear any

Understanding Turkey's vision of medical schools for small Syrian town

Ankara plans to establish two medical educational facilities in a small Syrian town across the border as Turkish entrenchment deepens in Syria.

This picture shows the Eastern Catholic Saint Elijah Cathedral, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on January 1, 2021. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia plays up ties to Syrian Christians

Russia declares its support for the Orthodox Christian militias fighting alongside the Syrian regime, as it shows great interest in the ideological factor within its expansion and domination strategy in Syria

Family of American held in Syria pins hopes on Biden

This month marks four years since psychotherapist Majd Kamalmaz disappeared in Syria.

Members of the civil society delegation attend the first meeting of the new Syrian Constitutional Committee at the United Nations in Geneva on October 30, 2019. - Syria's government may be on board for the UN-brokered review of its constitution, but it will sink the Geneva talks opening on October 30, 2019, before agreeing anything that compromises its authority, experts have said. (Photo by DENIS BALIBOUSE / POOL / AFP) (Photo by DENIS BALIBOUSE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Syrian opposition regroups as another round of talks crashes

The Syrian opposition is mulling its next moves after the faltering of yet another round of talks of the Syrian Constitutional Committee.

Workers restore a palatial Ottoman-era home called Beit al-Quwatli to turn it into a cultural institution in the old part of Syria's capital Damascus on November 10, 2020. - The old city of the Syrian capital is famed for its elegant century-old houses, usually two storeys built around a leafy rectangular courtyard with a carved stone fountain at its centre. While the capital has been largely spared the violence of Syria's almost ten-year war, several of these traditional homes have been abandoned by their

Jobless Syrians have little use for government’s new construction training program

Syrians are reluctant to apply to the technical training centers the regime plans to establish because of the shockingly low stipends provided.

TOPSHOT - People walk past tents in the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp in the al-Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria on August 25, 2020, where families of Islamic State (IS) foreign fighters are held. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

57 nations hit for failure to repatriate women, children from Syrian camps

UN human rights experts are pressing Great Britain, France, Iran, Russia, Turkey, the United States and 51 other countries to repatriate nearly 10,000 of their citizens associated with the Islamic State.

Who benefits from attacks on Turkish forces in Idlib?

Repeated attacks on Turkish posts and soldiers in Idlib are obstructing Turkish efforts to reopen the M4 international highway and cement the cease-fire, raising questions about the parties behind the attacks.