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

US Army Colonel Myles Caggins (L), official military spokesperson for international military intervention against the Islamic State (IS), and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) media spokesman Mustafa Bali (R), visit a military base in Rumaylan (Rmeilan) in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province on March 6, 2020. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Intelligence sharing remains key to fight against IS

The Islamic State is continuing to carry out guerrilla attacks; developing and maintaining a comprehensive intelligence picture of the group is seen as an important weapon to keep its militants at bay.

The building of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is pictured in The Hague, Netherlands, October 4, 2018. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw - RC122CAC18C0

Intel: State Department backs up watchdog report on Syria chemical weapons use

The United States agrees with the recent assessment of a global chemical weapons watchdog that found the Syrian regime used banned weapons against its own people, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.

Syrian camps brace for potential COVID-19 outbreak

Doctors are deeply concerned about the devastation likely to occur if the coronavirus spreads into northwest Syria, particularly the camps for the displaced.

A man sits near a coronavirus awareness billboard, during a lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Damascus, Syria, April 4, 2020. Picture taken April 4, 2020. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - RC2YXF91PSOD

Amid coronavirus concerns, some US-funded aid work paused in northeast Syria

The United States intends to focus more on stabilizing Deir ez-Zor and Hasakah provinces as it suspends humanitarian operations in northeast Syria due to COVID-19.

A Syrian woman sets a protective mask on a child's face after a lecture provided by staff from Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) to raise awareness about the novel coronavirus epidemic at a camp for the displaced in Kafr Lusin village, on the border with Turkey, in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, on March 23, 2020. - Testing for the novel coronavirus is to start within days in northwest Syria, the World Health Organisation said, amid fears of a disaster if the pandemic reached overcrowde

Syrian students turn to e-learning amid pandemic

The opposition-led government in Syria has activated distance learning for students in the areas under its control to help curb the spread of the coronavirus in schools and universities, though some students aren't able to benefit from the program.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attend a news conference following their talks in Moscow, Russia March 5, 2020. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC2UDF9MRZQ9

Intel: What’s next for Russia-Turkey cooperation after Erdogan, Putin call?

On April 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss potential cooperation in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, the next steps in joint efforts in Syria as well as the developments in Libya.

A picture taken on April 26, 2019 shows a general view of the hall where the Syrian constitutional committee takes place in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. - Two-day talks on Syria backed by Iran, Russia and Turkey concluded in Kazakhstan on April 26, 2019 without notable progress on forming a constitutional committee to drive a political settlement in the war-wracked country. (Photo by Alexey FILIPPOV / AFP) (Photo credit should read ALEXEY FILIPPOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Is COVID-19 changing Astana allies' dynamics in Syria?

The coronavirus outbreak in Syria may give Russia an opportunity to limit the Iranian presence.

A Turkish military convoy drives along the M4 highway, which links the northern Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Latakia, near the village of al-Nayrab, about 14 kilometres southeast of Idlib city and seven kilometres west of Saraqib in northwestern Syria on March 25, 2020. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Is Turkey ready to take on jihadis in Syria’s Idlib?

While Turkey and Russia seek to maintain a cease-fire in Idlib, the Syrian government and jihadi groups want to resume battles.

Pump jacks operate in an oil field in the countryside of al-Qahtaniyah town in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province near the Turkish border, on March 11, 2020. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey appears to want more than Syria’s oil

Like Moscow and Washington, Ankara seems to be coveting the oilfields of Deir ez-Zor in Syrian Kurdistan, which Kurds fear would give Turkey an opening to take over the entire Rojava area.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, U.S., March 25, 2020. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Pool via REUTERS - RC24RF9IPCHX

Intel: Pompeo calls on Syria to release US prisoners amid coronavirus fears

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo today urged President Bashar al-Assad to release all “arbitrarily detained” Syrians and US citizens amid fears that the coronavirus pandemic is primed to rapidly take hold and spread throughout the war-torn country.

A fighter of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stands on the back of a pick-up truck, with a weapon installed on it, in Qamishli, Syria March 30, 2019. Picture taken March 30, 2019. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho - RC1961AA5550

SDF calls for humanitarian truce in Syria amid coronavirus crisis

Following the lead of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces call for a cease-fire in order for all warring parties to combat COVID-19 instead.

$DAMASCUS, SYRIA - MARCH 23, 2020: Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (L-R front) shake hands during a meeting. Vadim Savitsky/Russian Defence Ministry Press Office/TASS (Photo by Vadim Savitsky\TASS via Getty Images)$

Intel: What was Russia’s defense minister doing in Syria?

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu just paid a visit to Damascus for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.