Syria Conflict

An Israeli military tank patrols along the border fence separating northern Israel from southern Lebanon on November 24, 2025. Hezbollah held the funeral on November 24 for its top military chief and other members of the militant group a day after Israel killed them in a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Lebanon-Israel direct talks pause operation against Hezbollah — but for how long?

The US blocked Israel from widening its strikes on Hezbollah this week, yet another flare-up in their enduring conflict seems likely despite first direct talks between Lebanon and Israel.

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

Syrian Kurds lift placards and flags during a rally calling for an autonomous administration and Kurdish rights in Syria's predominantly Kurdish northeastern city of Qamishli, on Sept. 17, 2025.

Ankara: Jailed PKK chief favors unitary Syria, no separate Kurdish defense force

The militant leader called for “police-like” security units in Syrian Democratic Forces areas during his landmark meeting with a Turkish parliamentary delegation, according to a transcript summary.

An aerial view shows the destruction across Yarmouk camp, Damascus, Syria, on Nov. 8, 2025.

What role is Jordan playing in Syria's reconstruction?

As Syria’s southern neighbor, Jordan is already positioning itself as a logistics hub and diplomatic broker for Syria’s reconstruction.

A boy sits outside the entrance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) building complex in Gaza City, on Sept. 6, 2025.

Interview

UNRWA plans Turkey office to boost Gaza, Syria aid as pledges dip

Speaking exclusively to Al-Monitor, UNRWA’s Tamara Alrifai said the upcoming Turkey office would help the agency to expand its operations not only in Gaza but also in Syria.

Latest News

Analysis

A Trump bargain: Pardon Netanyahu in exchange for Israel-Syria security deal?

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - OCTOBER 13: U.S. President Donald Trump (2R) is welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) at Ben Gurion International Airport on October 13, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. President Trump is visiting the country hours after Hamas released the remaining Israeli hostages captured on Oct. 7, 2023, part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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

Trump warns Israel not to 'interfere' in Syria after deadly raid

Bakr ALkasem / AFP via Getty Images

Exclusive

Top PYD official Aldar Khalil: 'Syria is telling Kurds to separate'

Kurdish official Aldar Khalil, who played a key role in establishing Syria's semiautonomous Kurdish region in 2013, during an interview in Qamishli on Dec. 22, 2018.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

PKK leader Ocalan gains legitimacy in Turkey, bigger sway over Syria’s Kurds

People take part in a demonstration to call for the liberation of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan outside the European Council in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Sept. 15, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

An election poster of Henry Hamra, a Syrian-American parliamentary candidate who is the son of the country's last rabbi and who if elected will be the first Jewish representative in the Syrian parliament since the late 1940s, is displayed on the entrance of the closed Jewish Maimonides School of Damascus, in the Jewish quarter of the old city of Damascus on Oct. 3, 2025, ahead of the upcoming vote on Oct. 5.

Syria's parliamentary elections: First Jewish candidate in 58 years enters race

Syria is holding its first parliamentary elections since the fall of the Assad regime, with a Jewish candidate running for the first time in decades in a vote conducted largely through indirect selection rather than a direct public ballot.

RAGHED WAKED/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

US troop drawdown in Syria on hold over regime stability concerns

While American troops in Iraq hand over operations against the Islamic State to Baghdad's forces, the parallel drawdown in neighboring Syria has been halted amid concerns about the abilities of the new Islamist-led government in Damascus.

Jared Szuba

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

LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images

As Syria finalizes candidates for parliament, women make up 14% of list

Syria’s parliamentary elections are set for Sunday, when electoral committees will select 140 lawmakers before President Ahmed al-Sharaa appoints the remaining 70.

US President Donald Trump (L) greets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) upon his arrival at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 25, 2025.

From F-35s to Ukraine: Erdogan-Trump talks signal reset, but sanctions obstacles remain

The summit underscored both leaders’ personal chemistry while highlighting the limits of what the partnership can deliver.

Women and children walk at the Al-Amal Camp (formerly Al-Jadaa), south of Mosul in northern Iraq, which houses Iraqi families who have been repatriated from Syria's Al-Hol camp, on May 8, 2025.

Pentagon pushes to accelerate ISIS detainee repatriations from Syria

Uncertainty about Syria’s long-term stability and the the US military’s future presence in the country have increased urgency among some Pentagon officials to further reduce the population of nearly 30,000 suspected ISIS-associated detainees in the camps.

Sheraton

Culture

Damascus hotel to get revamp in Syria-Saudi partnership: What we know

The rebranding and rehabilitation of the Seven Gates Hotel comes as part of an agreement between the Syrian government and the Saudi-owned Le Park Concord hospitality group.

People and street vendors move past one of Hama's landmark historic water wheels on a bridge over the Orontes riverbank in the heart of the central Syrian city on Dec. 30, 2024.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar pledge $89M for Syrian public sector: What to know

The new Syrian government has struggled to pay public workers sufficiently and is implementing a plan aimed at rooting out “ghost employees" who do not show up to work.

A delegation from the Naval Forces of the Ministry of Defense, led by Brigadier General Mohammed Al-Saud, visited the Commander of the Turkish Fleet, Admiral Kadir Yıldız, where discussions were held on ways to cooperate and strengthen bilateral relations. The visit also included a tour aboard the Turkish frigate TCG KEMALREİS in Kocaeli Province, during which the

Syria navy delegation visits Turkey: What to know

Turkey is seeking to help Syria build its new military, and the neighbors are also cooperating on counter-narcotics and intelligence matters.

MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

As states recognize Palestine, Netanyahu seeks Trump nod on annexation

As he seeks to retaliate against France and other countries for recognizing Palestine, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to announce annexation measures without first securing President Donald Trump's approval.

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

Richard Moore

UK’s top spy uses farewell from Turkey to lure Russian recruits, sparks fury

The outgoing MI6 chief called on Russians with "truths to share" to contact the agency, sparking diplomatic unease just days before Erdogan’s White House meeting.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa 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.

In UN spotlight, Syria’s Sharaa meets Rubio in New York

Ahmed al-Sharaa is set to become the first Syrian president since 1967 to address the annual United Nations summit.

Israeli troops patrol the border fence with Syria near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights, July 23, 2025.

Analysis

Seeking leeway on Gaza, Netanyahu backs Trump’s Syria pact push

The US is working intensively to arrange a historic meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Syrian President Sharaa on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

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