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

Palmyra

Syria

October 15, 2026

Damascus 7:39 pm

21°C

In first, Israel’s Netanyahu says he held call with Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa

It is the first publicly disclosed contact between the leaders of Israel and Syria, which lack formal relations and have fought several wars. Sharaa’s government began US-mediated talks with Israel in 2025.

Demonstrators ride through a street while waving Syrian flags

Analysis

Why Syria and Iraq are taking different approaches to armed groups

In a break from past policies, the new governments in Damascus and Baghdad are clamping down on militant groups with the capacity or desire to harm regional partners.

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

A view of the Great Umayyad Mosque during the reopening ceremony, Oct. 8, 2026.

Culture

Syria reopens Aleppo's 1,300-year-old Great Umayyad Mosque after 13 years

Syrian authorities are working to restore cultural landmarks and ancient sites that had been damaged or destroyed during the civil war.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Oct. 6, 2026.

Analysis

Why Syria sending troops to Yemen would be a risky bet for Sharaa

Syria insists it will not send troops to fight the Houthis alongside Saudi Arabia, but its economic dependence on Riyadh could complicate Damascus’ resistance to the idea.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Culture

Syria's Kurds, Arabs find common cause in battle for language rights

Youths play the daf, an Iranian frame drum, during a protest demanding the right to education in the Kurdish language in Al-Qamishli, Syria, on September 22, 2026. The demonstrations follow a decision by the Syrian Interim Government to allocate only Kurdish language classes in schools. (Photo by Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Syria’s Sharaa in Riyadh as Saudi airports come under Houthi attacks: What to know

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Oct. 6, 2026.

UAE-Syria move ahead on $20 billion real estate mega-developments

A view of a traffic roundabout in central Latakia, Syria on June 12, 2025. The city's road network converges near the coast, forming one of the busiest urban intersections in the province. (Photo by Omar Albaw / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by OMAR ALBAW/Middle East Images/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

US drone strike kills two suspected al-Qaeda officials in Idlib

The strike is believed to have killed a former member of Huras al-Din's Shura Council and a security official.

TOPSHOT - EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / A wounded Syrian child sits at a makeshift clinic in the town of Maaret Misrin following Syrian government forces airstrikes on March 5, 2020 in the country's northwestern Idlib province. - Russian air strikes killed at least 15 civilians including a child in the last major opposition bastion of Idlib in northwestern Syria, a Britain-based war monitor said. (Photo by Aref TAMMAWI / AFP) (Photo by AREF TAMMAWI/AFP via Getty Images)

Rights group says Putin may bear 'command responsibility' for war crimes in Syria

Human Rights Watch has named 10 senior Syrian and Russian officials who knew or should have known about the "unlawful attacks" taking place in Idlib.

Will Russia recruit Syrian Kurds to fight in Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict?

While Russia will likely avoid direct involvement in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, there are signs it could draw lessons from Libya and recruit fighters from Syria to do its bidding.

TOPSHOT - A picture taken on October 11, 2020, shows a church in the middle of a scorched hillside due to forest fires in the countryside of the Syrian western city of Tartus. - Dozens of fires that ravaged parts of Syria and Lebanon in recent days were brought under control, authorities in the two countries said. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Assad pays rare visit to fire-ravaged western Syria

The UN says at least three people have died in the fires that erupted last week in Latakia, Tartus and Homs provinces.

A member of the Syrian pro-government forces rides a bicycle through a damaged street in the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp on the southern outskirts of the capital Damascus on May 22, 2018. - The government seized earlier in the week the Yarmuk Palestinian camp and adjacent neighbourhoods of Tadamun and Hajar al-Aswad from the Islamic State (IS) group , putting Damascus fully under its control for the first time since 2012. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) / The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadat

Palestinians displaced from Syria's Yarmouk camp to finally go home

The camp had been the focus of fighting and seizure by Islamic State and Syrian government forces.

A Turkish-Russian military convoy tows a damaged vehicle after its joint patrol was reportedly targeted on the strategic M4 highway, near the Syrian town of Urum al-Jawz in the south of the northwestern Idlib province, on August 25, 2020. - Russia and Turkey launched joint patrols along the M4 highway in March following a ceasefire agreement aimed at stopping heavy fighting in and around Idlib, the last major bastion of anti-government forces in Syria's civil war. (Photo by Abdulaziz KETAZ / AFP) (Photo by

Russia's outreach to Syrian Kurds highlights dual-track approach

While Russia blames the United States for adding fuel to the fire of Kurdish separatism, it calls on the Syrian Kurds to lay the groundwork for constitutional reform, so as to contain conflict in the territories over which Damascus has long lost control.

The United Arab Emirates embassy is pictured in the Syrian capital Damascus on December 27, 2018 after its reopening, the latest sign of efforts to bring the Syrian government back into the Arab fold. - The UAE broke ties with Syria in February 2012, as the repression of nationwide protests demanding regime change was escalating into a devastating war. (Photo by Maher AL MOUNES / AFP) (Photo credit should read MAHER AL MOUNES/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: Oman ambassador returns to Syria

With much of Syria now under Syrian President Basher al-Assad's control, some Arab states are slowly considering the reopening of foreign missions in Damascus.

Car bombing kills more than a dozen in Syria's al-Bab

The town controlled by Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces continues to experience violence.

Assad accuses Turkey of instigating Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

The hostilities have killed hundreds of people since late September.

This picture taken on April 14, 2018 shows the wreckage of a building described as part of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC) compound in the Barzeh district, north of Damascus, during a press tour organised by the Syrian information ministry.
The United States, Britain and France launched strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime early on April 14 in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack after mulling military action for nearly a week. Syrian state news agency SANA r

Rights groups ask Germany to investigate Syria’s use of chemical weapons

The criminal complaint covers attacks on rebel territory in Eastern Ghouta in 2013 and Khan Sheikhoun in 2017.

Why Syrians are joining Turkey in Nagorno-Karabakh clash

Al-Monitor spoke with Syrian opposition fighters who joined the fight in Azerbaijan. Here is what they had to say.

A woman walks past others gathering by the back of a pickup truck at Camp Roj, housing family members of people accused to belong to the Islamic State (IS) group who were relocated from al-Hol camp, in the countryside near al-Malikiyah (Derik) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 30, 2020. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Kurdish authorities set to release Syrians from camp for IS families

Syrian detainees — mostly women and children family members of Islamic State terrorists — are to be released from the notorious detention camp al-Hol, yet foreigners will remain.