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

Palmyra

Syria

January 16, 2026

Damascus 12:56 am

0°C

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 Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the whole of Sweida province after days of sectarian bloodshed in the heartland of the Druze minority, a war monitor and witnesses said July 17, 2025.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

A girl holds a Syrian opposition flag during a demonstration in the village of Atme in Idlib.

Erdogan makes urgent appeal to West on grim 10-year mark of Syria’s war

Ankara desperately needs options to get out of the Syria quagmire, but the Turkish president's offer is likely to fall flat with the Biden administration.

Russian troops escort Syrian civilians returning to Ain Issa

Turkey reinforces military posts around Ain Issa amid clashes with Kurdish forces

Turkey established military posts and provided them with advanced weapons to prevent the advance of the Syrian Democratic Forces toward areas under Turkish control.

An aerial picture shows Syrians waving the opposition flag during a gathering in the rebel-held city of Idlib, as they mark 10 years since the nationwide anti-government protests that sparked the country's devastating civil war, Syria, March 15, 2021.

Syrians celebrate 10 years of revolution, committed to their goal

Syrians celebrate the 10th anniversary of their revolution, and reiterate their demands for dignity, freedom and changing the current regime.

Mohammad Raad (L) and Sergey Lavrov (R)

What's next for Russia’s relations with Hezbollah?

A Hezbollah delegation visits Moscow, with Lebanese politics and stability and Syria's political future atop the agenda.

A Russian army helicopter, part of a patrol, flies over an oil field in the countryside of al-Qahtaniyah town in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province near the Turkish border, on Oct. 11, 2020.

Russia launches air campaign against Islamic State in Syrian desert

Russian forces intensified their airstrikes against IS sites in Syria’s Badia with the aim of supporting the ground forces that failed to eliminate the organization or curb its spread.

A Syrian labourer works at a workshop specialised in building pistachio-powered heaters in al-Dana town in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib on December 18, 2019.

French NGO provides temporary jobs for Syrians in the northwest

Turkey-backed Syrian fighters and displaced civilians in Afrin mark 10-year anniversary of Syrian conflict

What lies behind Erdogan’s Syria offer to the West?

The Turkish president’s appeal to the West to back Turkey in Syria and make political gains “at minimum cost” comes as a sign he has little intention of giving up his ambitions in Syria.

An Israeli soldier stands near a parked Merkava Mark IV battle tank near Moshav Alonei HaBashan in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on March 1, 2021. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria reports new Israeli airstrikes near Damascus

The missile strike follows Israel reportedly hitting Iranian targets in Syria earlier this month following an explosion on an Israeli ship in the gulf.

NGOs file Syria torture complaint against Russia’s Wagner Group

The rights organizations allege that the shadowy paramilitary group is behind the 2017 torture and killing of a Syrian military defector.

A Turkish military tank is seen in a destroyed neighbourhood of Sarmin town, about eight kilometres southeast of the city of Idlib in northwestern Syria, on March 10, 2020. - When protesters in March 2011 demanded their rights and regime change, they likely never imagined it would trigger a reaction that has led to the 21st century's biggest war. Nine years on, President Bashar al-Assad is still in power and there to stay, more than 380,000 people have died, dozens of towns and cities razed to the ground an

Biden leaves Syria on back burner as war marks 10 years

In his first months in office, President Joe Biden's team has signaled that Syria’s civil war won’t be among his top foreign policy priorities.

The empty seat of Syria is seen during a meeting of foreign ministers at the headquarters of the Arab League in the Egyptian capital Cairo, on March 7, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Egypt, UAE call for rethink of Syria’s expulsion from Arab League

Egypt and the United Arab Emirates are calling for Syria to be accepted back into the Arab League as analysts say that its suspension has done little good.

United Arab Emirates

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a media conference after a meeting, Supporting the future of Syria and the Region, in videoconference format at the European Council building in Brussels on June 30, 2020. (Photo by Virginia Mayo / POOL / AFP) (Photo by VIRGINIA MAYO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

EU: No Syria reconstruction aid until Assad leaves

Josep Borrell marked the 10th anniversary of Syria's civil war by doubling down on US-led policy to isolate Assad