Syria Conflict

Demonstrators hold a banner reading "Free Gaza, free world"

Analysis

Gaza progress, Syria pullback: What Turkey wants from Israel’s next government

Ankara sees room for limited improvement in ties if Israel’s next government eases Gaza’s humanitarian crisis and reduces military pressure on Syria.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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.

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.

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

Jordan said its airstrikes targeted ISIS fighters, while Syria said civilians were killed, sparking outrage.

Latest News

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

What’s at stake for Turkey as Israel heads to the polls?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Analysis

'The problem and the solution': Netanyahu-Sharaa call exposes Israel's Syria dilemma

Israeli troops stand guard on the dividing line between the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and Syrian, near Majdal Shams, July 16, 2025.

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

Kurdish children look through a gate at a pre-school in Qamishli, Syria, March 6, 2019. Picture taken March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Issam Abdallah - RC14F6F6D600

Coronavirus, war prompts northeast Syrian schools to go online

The Kurdish-led government in northeast Syria is putting classes online and may continue to use the internet for education beyond the coronavirus.

A man rides a motorbike past damaged buildings in the rebel-held town of Nairab, Idlib region, Syria April 17, 2020. Picture taken April 17, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC2C8G9K3BBG

Amnesty: Syria, Russia responsible for war crimes in Idlib

Between May 2019 and February 2020, the UK-based rights group recorded 18 attacks on hospitals and schools carried out by Russian and Syrian forces.

Military vehicles of the Libyan internationally recognised government forces head out to the front line from Misrata, Libya February 3, 2020. REUTERS/Ayman Al-Sahili - RC24TE96MEQG

Report: Child soldiers deployed to Libya by Turkish-backed Syrian National Army

An exclusive report, citing sources on the ground in Syria and Libya, says Syrian teenagers are being sent to Libya to take part in the civil war there.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet attends a session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, February 27, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse - RC2Y8F9OMDNZ

Civilian killings in Syria are a ‘ticking time bomb,’ UN commissioner says

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet warned of a "ticking time bomb" in Syria amid an uptick of civilian attacks and human rights violations.

U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment cover their faces as a Blackhawk helicopter takes off during a mission for Brigadier General Christopher Bentley to inspect an Afghan National police installation in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan December 16, 2014. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - GM1EACG1TN401

Pentagon report: US military killed 132 civilians in conflicts in 2019

While the number is lower than independent monitors claim, some have still recognized the report as a step forward in accountability.

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on May 1, 2020, shows smoke billowing above buildings in Syria's central city of Homs. - SANA said that the explosions ringing out of a Syrian army position in Homs resulted from a "human error during the transport of some ammunition, which led to human and material losses", while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor relying on sources inside Syria, said Israeli air strikes hit a missile depot belonging

Alleged Israeli strikes target northern, eastern Syria

Iranian militia targets were bombed near Aleppo and in the Deir ez-Zor countryside.

Assad’s billionaire cousin denies tax evasion, begs for help in Facebook video

Syrian telecom tycoon Rami Makhlouf has made a rare public statement calling on his cousin President Bashar al-Assad to dismiss charges of tax evasion.

People inspect the damage after a blast east of Homs city, Syria in this handout released by SANA on May 1, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE - RC2PFG9URBKH

Two sets of explosions rock Syria, amid claims of Israeli involvement

There were explosions at a military warehouse in Homs and airstrikes in the Syrian Golan Heights today.

Islamist rebels from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham are seen outside the villages of al-Foua and Kefraya, Syria July 18, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC194E7A7120

Intel: US Syria envoy says Turkey must put pressure on Idlib militants

Turkey should keep up the pressure on the hard-line Islamist group in control of Syria’s embattled Idlib province, the US special envoy for Syria said today.

AFRIN, SYRIA - APRIL 28: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY √¢ MANDATORY CREDIT - "SYRIAN CIVIL DEFENSE (WHITE HELMETS) / HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) Civil defense members try to extinguish fire after an attack carried out by PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, and Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey regards as a terror group, in northwestern Syria's Afrin on April 28, 2020. At least 40 civilians, including 11 chil

Syrian Kurdish groups deny responsibility for bloody Afrin bombing

A truck explosion led to more than 50 deaths Tuesday in Turkish-controlled Afrin, Syria.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a press briefing at the State Department in Washington, U.S., April 22, 2020. Nicholas Kamm/Pool via REUTERS - RC2T9G9TDPES

Intel: Pompeo condemns terrorist attack in Syria’s Afrin

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned on Tuesday a terrorist bomb attack that killed at least 40 people in the northwestern Syrian city of Afrin.

AFRIN, SYRIA - MARCH 28: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY √¢ MANDATORY CREDIT - " TURKISH NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTRY / HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) A footage captured from a video shows burning vehicles and shops after an attack carried out by PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, and Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey regards as a terror group, in Afrin, Syria on April 28, 2020. Civilian death toll in YPG/PKK attac

Afrin truck bombing kills dozens in Syria

The explosion during the holy month of Ramadan in the city controlled by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels killed at least 36 and wounded at least 40.