Syria - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

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Syria

June 27, 2026

Damascus 1:02 pm

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Supreme Court backs Trump move to end Syrians’ deportation protections

The decision affects some 6,100 Syrians who live in the United States.

Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Explainer

Syria’s energy push could soon get a major boost from Chevron: What to know

The country's leaders are seeking to translate a flurry of oil and gas agreements into concrete investments and rebuild an industry devastated by more than a decade of war, sanctions and isolation.

Defendant Wassim al-Assad appears before the Fourth Criminal Court during the opening session of his trial in Damascus on June 24, 2026.

Syria opens trial of Wassim al-Assad, cousin of ousted president: What we know

The trial follows another session in the case against Atef Najib, also a cousin of former President Bashar al-Assad, as Syrian authorities continue prosecuting figures linked to the former regime and its remnants.

Latest News

Syria announces direct flights to Amsterdam as Europe links expand

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

Syria’s Sharaa says he had ‘multiple discussions’ with Trump on Lebanon, favors dialogue

US President Donald Trump meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in the Oval Office, Washington, DC, Nov. 10, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

CENTCOM chief meets Syrian Kurdish leader in push for postwar unity

A senior US Navy admiral joined Trump envoy Tom Barrack in efforts to break the impasse between Syria’s Kurdish-led forces and Damascus on postwar unification.

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.

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.

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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (L) talks to US President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on April 7, 2025, in Washington.

Analysis

Netanyahu sidesteps Trump's Gaza plan at UN as US presses Israel to end war

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet on Monday with President Donald Trump, where he will have to make decisions on whether to continue with the Gaza war or end it.

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

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.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on Sept. 26, 2025 in New York City.

Won’t shove it 'down our throats': Netanyahu blasts Palestine recognition in UN speech

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the leaders of countries that recognized Palestine of playing into Hamas’ hands.

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.

Residents of the village of Shatha watch as a wildfire rages on the nearby hills, in the western Hama countryside in west-central Syria on Aug. 15, 2025.

Wildfires ravage Syria’s Latakia for 4th day in row: What to know

A Syrian official recently said that 2025 has been the driest year in decades, as wildfires persist along the coast, and the response is being hindered by the effects of the war.

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.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa meets in New York City with a delegation from the Syrian community in the United States, Sept. 22, 2025.

Sharaa’s New York blitz: Syria seeks economic revival in first UN visit in 58 years

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is in New York on a landmark visit during which he will address the UN General Assembly as he seeks to break Syria’s isolation.