Regime, rebels continue clashes in Zabadani

Rebel fighters attacked several Syrian army checkpoints around the town of Zabadani, but it has so far failed to produce safe passageways for civilians and rebel fighters.

Syria

Is Turkey the weakest link in anti-IS coalition?

Held back by political weaknesses and ideological constraints, Ankara is likely to be the weakest and most reluctant member of the planned coalition against the Islamic State.

Iraq

Could Arqoub be the next Arsal?

The large number of displaced Syrians in the Arqoub area has raised concerns about the potential for instability in southern Lebanon instigated by jihadists living among the refugees.

Israel

Turkey faces dilemma in fight against Islamic State

Turkey is not keen to have the Kurds, Shiites and the Damascus regime be bolstered in the fight against the Islamic State.

Iraq

IS beheading of Shiite soldier threatens Lebanon's stability

The latest killing by the Islamic State raises worries that Shiite families and clans might retaliate against the Syrian refugee camps in the Bekaa, where many IS supporters are suspected to be present.

Lebanon

Islamic State becoming ‘dominant voice’ among global jihadists

The United States intensifies military planning against the Islamic State; Syria’s new Cabinet; Israel faces "highly complex reality" in Syria; IS-linked group threatens more terror, beheadings in the Sinai Peninsula; what Egypt lost in the Al Jazeera trial.

Egypt

Hezbollah prepares to fight IS in Lebanon

The Islamic State and other extremists groups are proliferating along Lebanon's border with Syria.

Lebanon

Europe blind to Islamic State's true threat

With the Islamic State drawing recruits from across Europe, the continent must act against the movement in Syria and Iraq before it's too late.

Near East

Regime tries to root out rebels surrounding Syrian capital

Syrian government forces began an offensive last week on the major rebel stronghold of Jobar, the closest rebel-held area to Damascus.

Syria

Syria, West explore cooperation to fight Islamic State

Western intelligence officials have reportedly reached out to the Syrian government on potential cooperation over the Islamic State threat, but so far little progress has been made.

Syria

What's different in Damascus?

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has made changes in the economic and services ministries of the new government in a bid to overcome economic challenges and gather support by addressing charges of corruption.

Lebanon

Israeli Golan residents tell government to 'wake up'

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Eli Malka, head of the Golan Regional Council, expressed concern that with violence in Syria spilling over into the Golan, inaction by the Israeli government might lead to residents there living under conditions similar to those of communities along the border with Gaza.

Palestine