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

Palmyra

Syria

July 25, 2026

Damascus 7:42 pm

29°C

Tourism students and visitors visit the ruins of the ancient city of Apamea in the Hama countryside, Syria, on July 8, 2026.

Syria arrivals surge 111% as government bets on tourism revival

The country welcomed 3.52 million visitors during the first half of 2026, more than double the figure recorded a year earlier, as the government pushes to reconnect to the world and promote tourism as a pillar of economic recovery.

Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP via Getty Images

Syria seizes arms shipment on Iraq border destined for Hezbollah

The operation comes as part of the Syrian authorities' efforts to curb illicit arms smuggling through its territory, namely intended for Hezbollah.

A man holds a Syrian flag across the street from the White House after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with President Donald Trump at White House in Washington, on Nov. 10, 2025.

Syria, US hold first business forum since sanctions relief: What to know

The one-day forum in Damascus was organized by Syria’s Ministry of Economy and Industry and the US-Syria Business Council, which was established in Washington last June to advance trade and investment between the two nations.

Latest News

Explainer

How Macron seeks to carve out France's role in new Syria

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) welcomes France's President Emmanuel Macron for a joint press conference in Damascus on July 7, 2026.

US to drop Syria from terror blacklist

US President Donald Trump meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) on the sidelines of the NATO Summit at Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, on July 8, 2026.

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

A child stares at a US soldiers patrolling a village in the countryside of the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province, near the Turkish border, on July 23, 2022. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria, Palestine, Yemen biggest violators of child soldier recruits: UN

The report coincides with renewed Russian airstrikes in Syria’s last rebel stronghold of Idlib in the northwest.

A picture taken on Aug. 2, 2018, shows a man riding a motorcycle past destroyed buildings in the opposition-held southern city of Daraa.

South Syria increasingly unstable even as normalization proceeds with Assad

Economic turmoil and failed attempts at reconciliation over a decade after the beginning of Syria's civil war keep the country on unstable footing.

Trucks move in a United Nations aid convoy en route to Syria's rebel-held northwestern city of Idlib on June 23, 2023.

Syria’s rebel-held northwest receives first UN aid convoy since earthquake

UN aid has not entered northwest Syria since the earthquake that hit the region in February left millions suffering in devastating humanitarian conditions.

A woman holds up a sign as other protesters wave Syrian national flags and red banners during a demonstration by Druze residents of the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights against Israeli construction of wind turbines in the territory, Jan. 24, 2020.

Analysis

Why are Golan Heights Druze protesting Israel's wind turbines project?

The state-backed project has ignited strong objections by the Druze in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, who fear for their health and for their rural way of life.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Rukban aid

In a first, US military delivers NGO aid to Syria’s Rukban camp

A US-based nonprofit obtained permission to have the US military deliver humanitarian aid from Iraq to a displaced persons camp in Syria.

Astana talks

Few signs of progress at Turkey-Syria normalization talks in Astana

Syrian president sees no need to compromise, while UN representative admits 'comprehensive solution is not doable.'

In this handout image released by the South Korean Defense Ministry, U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers (R), F-22 fighter jets and South Korean Air Force F-35 fighter jets (bottom) fly over South Korea Peninsula during a joint air drill on February 01, 2023 at an undisclosed location in South Korea.

Syria: US sends F-22 stealth fighter jets to ward off Russian pilots' harassment

The Pentagon is upping the ante to deter the Kremlin's provocations in Syria as both Russia and Iran seek to take advantage of a smaller US force fighting ISIS.

A US Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter takes off at sunset while transporting American troops out of a remote combat outpost known as RLZ near the Turkish border in northeastern Syria, May 25, 2021.

22 US soldiers injured in Syria helicopter accident

The MH-17 helicopter took a "hard landing" shortly after take off, but hostile fire was not involved, Pentagon officials said.

KHALIL MAZRAAWI/afp/AFP via Getty Images

Jordan shoots down drone carrying drugs from Syria

The operation is the latest effort by Jordanian authorities to curb drug smuggling from neighboring Syria.

An aerial picture shows Syrian refugees living in Turkey waiting to take a bus through the northern Bab al-Hawa border crossing, on February 17, 2023, as they return to Syria in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake. - Turkey this week allowed Syrians under its protection who hold ID cards from one of the quake-hit provinces to leave for between three and six months, a rule change designed to reunite families on both sides of the border hit by the February 6 disaster, which has killed more than 41,000 people

In first for Turkey, National Security Council addresses Syrian refugee return

Turkey’s National Security Council has openly expressed the need for international support for Syrian refugees to return home.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan (R) escorts US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as they arrive for a meeting with GCC Ministers at the GCC Secretariat in Riyadh on June 7, 2023.

Blinken urges coalition partners to repatriate Islamic State fighters in Syria

At a gathering in Riyadh of the global alliance to defeat IS, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked partners to repatriate their detained citizens and announced new funding for stabilization work in Iraq and Syria.

`French police officers stand next to an emergency truck in Annecy following a mass stabbing in the French Alpine town, June 8, 2023.

France arrests 'Syrian asylum seeker' in Annecy stabbing attack

French authorities are still investigating whether the attack this morning at a park in the southeastern French town was a terror act or not.