Syria Conflict

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 Syria's output as it takes over 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.

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.

Culture

Syrian women easy target in Sharaa’s drive to consolidate power

Syria’s interim president is balancing Western demands for inclusion with pressure from Islamist hard-liners as he seeks to consolidate power and shed his jihadi past.

Latest News

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

Syria to rejoin Arab group at IMF, leaving Russian-led constituency

An attendee walks past signage displayed inside the venue for the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) in Bangkok on October 14, 2026. (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP via Getty Images)

Members of the Baqir Brigade are seen in the city of Aleppo in this undated photo.

Why is Iran allying itself with Syrian tribal brigade in Aleppo?

A group of Iranian clerics visited the headquarters of the Baqir Brigade, Iran's ally, in the city of Aleppo. The brigade has played a major role in curbing Russian influence in Aleppo in favor of Iran.

Demonstrators chant and burn tires as they gather in the Syrian opposition-held town of al-Bab.

Turkey turns up pressure on allies in Syria

Turkey is using the jihadis’ march into Afrin to push its rebel allies in Syria to reorganize as a coherent, disciplined force. But what happens next if the factions fail to do so by the reported year-end deadline?

Ahmad lies in his hospital bed on his sixth day of treatment at Halba's government hospital in Akkar.

Lebanon begins vaccination campaign as cholera cases soar

The crisis-hit country’s collapsing water and sewage infrastructure has opened a breeding ground for waterborne illness.

A Syrian teacher shows letters on a board at school in the village of al-Shamatiyah on the ourskirts of Deir ez-Zor, Syria, Feb. 7, 2018.

Culture

Syrian Kurds ban niqab in schools in northeast Syria

The decision to ban the niqab at schools by the US-aligned Syrian group has angered some Arab constituents.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz (L) with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) and Defense Minister Hulusi Akar (R), Presidential Palace, Ankara, Turkey, Oct. 27 2022.

Turkey, Israel relaunch security ties during historic visit

On a historic official visit to Ankara, and after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced the official resumption of bilateral security relations.

This picture taken on March 24, 2019, shows a discarded Islamic State flag.

Syrian man sentenced in Turkey for burning two alive under Islamic State

A Turkish court has sentenced a Syrian man for ordering the burning executions of two Turkish nationals in 2016, but many aspects of the grisly murder remain in the dark.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley holds a photo of a victim of the 2013 Syrian Ghouta chemical attack.

US blacklists Syrian military officials over 2013 chemical attack

Three Syrian military officers were designated for their alleged participation in the August 2013 sarin gas attack on Ghouta.

Military vehicles of a joint Russian-Turkish patrol pass through the M4 highway, which links the northern Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Latakia, near Ariha in the rebel-held northwestern Idlib province, Syria, June 10, 2020.

Russia oversees Syrian forces’ military exercises in northwest Syria

Russia is testing the readiness of the Syrian government forces in their area of deployment on the outskirts of Idlib, in what some fear is a prelude to a wide-scale military operation to uproot the opposition in northwest Syria.

Turkish troops are pictured in the area of Kafr Jannah on the outskirts of the Syrian town of Afrin on Oct. 18, 2022.

Syrian jihadist group HTS, armed groups agree to uneasy truce

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has seized several cities and towns in areas under the control of the Turkish-backed factions after days of clashes between rival factions.

Abdul Hakim al-Shishani, commander of the Ajnad al-Kavkaz group (circled in red) with a Chechen fighting unit, Oct. 15, 2022.

Chechen fighters leave Syria to battle Russians in Ukraine

Abdul Hakim al-Shishani, a veteran of the Chechen-Russian war in the 1990s and commander of the Ajnad al-Kavkaz group fighting Syrian government forces in Latakia, arrived in Ukraine with a group of Chechen fighters to battle Russian forces.

A general shot taken on June 30, 2015, shows a neighborhood in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Syrian government retaliates for killing of soldiers by Islamic State

The Syrian government and Russia accused the Islamic State of blowing up a troop bus of the Syrian army’s Fourth Division in its main headquarters near Damascus.

Members of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group bring reinforcements.

Is Turkey using HTS to strengthen its hand in Syria?

Amid Ankara’s overtures to Damascus, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — the radical group controlling Idlib — has seized Afrin and is seeking a deal to expand its control further into territories held by factions allied with Turkey.