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Palmyra

Syria

January 15, 2026

Damascus 8:26 am

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Members of the Kurdish forces hold a portrait of Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler which reads "Shame on the killers of innocents in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood" during a protest by Syrian Kurds against violence they say was committed by Syrian government forces during recent clashes in Aleppo's Kurdish neighbourhoods, in the Kurdish-controlled northeastern city of Qamishli on Jan. 13, 2026.

Syria declares 'closed military zone' east of Aleppo as Kurds protest

The Syrian government accused the Kurdish-led SDF of mobilizing in the area, reflecting ongoing turmoil following a ceasefire.

President of Syria Ahmed al-Shara arrives for the 80th session of the UN’s General Assembly (UNGA) at UN Headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025 in New York City. — Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Syria’s Sharaa heads to Davos, ending years of global isolation

The World Economic Forum begins on January 19 and ends on January 23, hosting a cohort of around 400 political leaders.

Sheikh Hikmat Salman al-Hijri is pictured at Qanawat, the headquarters of the Druze spiritual presidency, on Dec. 28, 2024, in Suwayda, Syria.

Syria Druze leader Hijri calls for independent entity, says country ‘heading toward partition’

Controversial Druze spiritual leader Hikmat al-Hijri, in Syria’s southern province of Suwayda, praised Israel as the only party he said intervened to stop the killing of Druze during a wave of unrest last summer.

Israel military vehicles drive along the border fence into Israel, near the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on July 17, 2025. Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the whole of Sweida province after days of sectarian bloodshed in the heartland of the Druze minority, a war monitor and witnesses said July 17, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

What Syria and Israel’s new communications cell really signals

The deal reached in Paris under US mediation reflects a rare step toward managing tensions but stops short of halting Israeli military strikes or producing a broader security pact.

Rina Bassist

By Rosaleen Carroll , Rina Bassist

Latest News

Exclusive

Closed-door breakdown in Syria-Kurdish talks foreshadowed Aleppo clashes

Bakr ALKASEM / AFP via Getty Images

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Sharaa tells Iraq's Barzani Kurds integral to Syria amid fears of Aleppo spillover

Safin HAMID / AFP via Getty Images

Interview

Top Syrian Kurdish official Foza Yusuf says war with Damascus lose-lose for all

An undated image of Foza Yusif.

Foza Yusuf

Foza Yusuf

Top Syrian Kurdish official

Turkey's Fidan says Israel ties harden SDF stance as Syria clashes grow

ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images

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

AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images

Syrian aid agencies brace for vote on border crossing: 'There is no Plan B'

Humanitarian actors are stockpiling supplies and sounding the alarm ahead of a UN Security Council vote that could eliminate the United Nations' last remaining entry point into northwest Syria.

Vassily Nebenzia

Russia rules out opening second Syria border crossing for aid

Russia's UN ambassador said his government is still considering whether or not to veto the UN's mandate for Syria's last remaining aid crossing.

A woman walks in the northern city of Raqqa, the former Syrian capital of the Islamic State, Syria, Dec. 20, 2020.

Kurdish-led forces intensify crackdown on Islamic State cells in northeast Syria

Islamic State activities seem to have diminished during the month of June in the Kurdish-controlled areas in northeastern Syria amid a crackdown led by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Smoke rises from buildings following an airstrike by Syrian government forces in the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor, on Oct. 31, 2017.

US forces in Syria come under attack after airstrikes on Iran-backed militias

Renewed fighting in Iraq and Syria is bound to set off scrutiny in Congress.

A child sits near displaced Syrians lining up to collect plates of food prepared by a local charity for the Ramadan fast-breaking meal at a camp for people displaced by conflict in the town of Sarmada in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on April 13, 2021.

Blinken calls Syrian humanitarian situation 'untenable'

At a meeting of the members of the US D-ISIS coalition in Rome, the US secretary of state makes appeal for "stabilization."

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Intel: Blinken urges allies to repatriate IS fighters from Syria

The Syrian Democratic Forces are holding an estimated 10,000 suspected Islamic State fighters, a situation Secretary of State Antony Blinken said is "untenable."

Syrian children fight over goods taken from a truck that rebels captured at Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, near Aleppo, Syria, July 20, 2012.

Warnings increase amid fears of closing last aid lifeline in Syria

International and UN organizations press for maintaining the flow of humanitarian aid to northwest Syria through Bab al-Hawa crossing, in light of fears of a humanitarian catastrophe in case the mandate for cross-border aid was not renewed.

April's Pink Super Moon rises behind a fighter of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army in the rebel-held countryside of Idlib province, Syria, April 28, 2021.

Turkish-backed opposition seeks unified security forces in north Syria

The Turkish-backed opposition is trying to benefit from the experience of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in establishing a new security apparatus to pursue terrorist cells in the areas under its control in north Syria.

This picture shows a view of the Great Colonnade at the Greco-Roman ruins of the ancient city of Apamea, close to the town of Qalaat al-Madiq, after it was taken by government forces, Syria, May 17, 2019.

Russia presses soft power in Syria by restoring Palmyra, Apamea

Russia is promoting its archaeological and historical restoration projects in Syria, as it tries to expand its influence in Syria by dominating the Syrian antiquities sector.

AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images

NGOs make case for keeping UN border crossing into Syria open

The situation in northwest Syria is so nightmarish that some families are abandoning newborns in the streets, according to a humanitarian organization working there.

Nasr al-Hariri

Turkey promotes tribal role in Syrian opposition institutions

The Syrian opposition is divided over activating the role of tribes in the coalition, as some believe this would be in favor of figures close to Turkey and would help it dominate the opposition institutions.

Syrians attend the screening of the Oscar-nominated film "Last Men in Aleppo" at the University of Idlib in the country's rebel-held province, Idlib, Syria, Feb. 12, 2018.

Syria's Idlib University bans mixed-gender online groups

Idlib University, managed by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s government in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, issued a decision banning mixed-gender groups on social media, causing uproar and division among students.