Syria Conflict

ABIR SULTAN / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Eyeing Turkey, Netanyahu boosts Greece, Cyprus ties ahead of US visit

Worried about the increasing empowerment of Turkey across the Middle East, Israel is making a show of neighborhood strength with Greece and Cyprus.

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

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives for a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City, on Sept. 22, 2025.

A year on, uncertainty shadows Washington's bet on Syria

The Trump administration has embraced Syria's new leadership, but engagement is being tested by security risks and unresolved questions about Damascus' control.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participates in a joint news conference with US President Donald Trump (not seen) in the State Dining Room at the White House on Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington.

Analysis

In 2025, Netanyahu saved his coalition but stalled on Gaza, Iran, Lebanon

With 2025 ending, Israelis are frustrated over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to fully end the Gaza war, solve the Hezbollah problem, reach a deal with Syria or find a way to constructively impact talks on the Iranian nuclear program.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani addresses delegates during a day of dialogue with Syrian civil society on Nov. 15, 2025.

Syria's Shibani talks defense, economic ties with Russia's Putin during Moscow visit

The visit is the second to Russia for Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Murhaf Abu Qasra, and follows other signs of rapprochement.

Latest News

Germany makes first deportation to Syria since 2011: What to know

GREGOR FISCHER/AFP via Getty Images

Syria seizes anti-aircraft missiles near Iraqi border: What to know

Syria's security directorate in al-Bukamal seized SAM-7 missiles being prepared for smuggling into Iraq, on Dec. 22, 2025.

Turkey denies internal rifts as top officials in Syria ahead of SDF deadline

Turkish Foreign Ministery Press Service / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Syrians relieved as Caesar sanctions lifted, but recovery may take time

Representatives exit the US Capitol, Washington, DC, Dec. 17, 2025.

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

First COVID-19 case among residents reported in Syrian IS camp

Three health workers in the notorious al-Hol camp also tested positive for the coronavirus last week.

State Department remains concerned by Turkey’s proxy fighters in northern Syria

Turkey-allied fighters have faced widespread accusations of arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings and other abuses in northern Syria.

Full-fledged military escalation looms large in Idlib

Developments in southern Idlib suggest that a five-month truce could soon come to an end with a fresh regime offensive to capture Syria’s last rebel stronghold.

Parents of detained journalist Austin Tice urge Trump to talk directly with Syrian regime

The new plea from Marc and Debra Tice comes on the heels of John Bolton's allegations that he and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo thought it was a bad idea for President Trump to engage with his Syrian counterpart.

A man walks at a makeshift refinery using burners to distill crude oil in the village of Bishiriya in the countryside near the town of Qahtaniya west of Rumaylan (Rmeilan) in Syria's Kurdish-controlled northeastern Hasakeh province, on July 19, 2020. - Oil pollution in Syria has become a growing concern since the 2011 onset of a civil war that has taken a toll on oil infrastructure and seen rival powers compete over control of key hydrocarbon fields. In the Kurdish-held northeast, a large storage facility i

Turkey joins Syria in slamming oil agreement between US firm, Syrian Kurds

Ankara has spoken out against a new oil agreement between an American-based company and the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

A Syrian civilian walks past a shell hole after Syrian government forces recently recaptured the village of Ghariyah ash Sharqiyah from the rebels, in the province of Daraa, on July 4, 2018. - Syrian rebels were facing a deadline Wednesday in negotiations with regime ally Russia to either agree to tough surrender terms in the south or come under a renewed military onslaught. (Photo by Youssef KARWASHAN / AFP) (Photo credit should read YOUSSEF KARWASHAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Moscow, Damascus shadowbox in Syria’s grey zones

The newest twist in Syria involves a Russian-backed military group working to carve out an autonomous zone for itself in the southwest and even clashing with regime forces, perhaps paradoxically seeking to boost regime's legitimacy.

This picture taken on July 19, 2020 shows a general view of a makeshift refinery using burners to distill crude oil in the village of Bishiriya in the countryside near the town of Qahtaniya west of Rumaylan (Rmeilan) in Syria's Kurdish-controlled northeastern Hasakeh province. - Oil pollution in Syria has become a growing concern since the 2011 onset of a civil war that has taken a toll on oil infrastructure and seen rival powers compete over control of key hydrocarbon fields. In the Kurdish-held northeast,

US oil company signs deal with Syrian Kurds

Sources told Al-Monitor the agreement to market oil in territory controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces was signed “with the knowledge and encouragement of the White House.”

Hezbollah, Israel jostle in Syria, Lebanon

Conflict between Israel on the one hand and Iran and Hezbollah on the other have been playing out this month in Syria and Lebanon.

Activists from of the Lebanese LGBT community take part in a protest outside the Hbeish police station in Beirut on May 15, 2016, demanding the release of four transsexual women and calling for the abolishment of article 534 of the Lebanese Penal code, which prohibits having sexual relations that "contradict the laws of nature". / AFP / ANWAR AMRO (Photo credit should read ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

‘I still wake up at night’: Syrian men and transgender rape survivors struggle in Lebanon

LGBT survivors of sexual violence told Human Rights Watch that accessing services for their physical and psychological trauma is a challenge in Lebanon.

Rouhani slams US ‘aerial terrorism’ after Iran plane interception

The US interception of an Iranian civilian aircraft over Syrian skies has set off yet another escalatory episode in the rivalry between Tehran and Washington over influence in the Middle East.

Russian soldiers sit in their vehicle next to a portrait of late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad in Khan Sheikhun in the southern countryside of the Idlib province on September 25, 2019. - With military backing from Russia, President Bashar al-Assad's forces have retaken large parts of Syria from rebels and jihadists since 2015, and now control around 60 percent of the country. Russia often refers to troops it deployed in Syria as military "advisers" even though its forces and warplanes are also directly in

Intel: US ramps up Syria pressure campaign with sanctions targeting Assad’s teen son

The latest reason Australia won’t take back citizens detained in Syria’s prisons for IS? Coronavirus

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne says COVID-19 has further complicated the possibilities of repatriating Australians captured during the war against the Islamic State in Syria.