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Syria

October 23, 2026

Damascus 2:56 pm

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Trucks loaded with goods wait to cross over to Syria

Analysis

How Hormuz crisis is reshaping economic ties between Iraq and Syria

Iraq and Syria are expanding trade and energy cooperation, but security risks, economic challenges and longstanding mistrust raise questions about whether their growing partnership can endure.

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

Israeli troops stand guard on the dividing line between the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and Syrian, near Majdal Shams, July 16, 2025.

Analysis

'The problem and the solution': Netanyahu-Sharaa call exposes Israel's Syria dilemma

The Israeli leader revealed that he spoke with the Syrian president last year, but stalled talks and Israel's fortification of a security zone on Syrian land underscore his mistrust of Sharaa.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

An attendee walks past signage displayed inside the venue for the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) in Bangkok on October 14, 2026. (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP via Getty Images)

Syria to rejoin Arab group at IMF, leaving Russian-led constituency

Syria will rejoin the Arab constituency at the International Monetary Fund beginning Nov. 1 and has applied for membership in the EBRD.

Latest News

Explainer

Syria arrests Mihrac Ural, ex-Assad militia head also wanted by Turkey

Mihrac Ural, who was also known as Ali Kayali, was arrested

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

Analysis

Why Syria and Iraq are taking different approaches to armed groups

Demonstrators ride through a street while waving Syrian flags

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

Culture

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

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

Will Abbas be forced to choose war against Israel?

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is starting to understand that the current situation cannot go on for much longer and soon he will have to choose between peace and war.

Palestinian refugees to return to Damascus camp after four years in the dark

While the return of civilians to Damascus’ Sbeineh refugee camp has already begun, the road to full recovery for these camps remains long.

Despite tension, Syrian refugees find sympathy in Lebanese villages

While Lebanon’s impoverished border towns are generally more concerned with pre-existing hardships than those brought by Syrian refugees, some xenophobia has crept into these areas.

Rights organizations rally to reveal fate of Syria’s disappeared

As the number of disappeared has reached more than 75,000 people in Syria, Amnesty International launched a campaign urging the Syrian authorities and armed groups to reveal their fate.

Iran-Syria soccer game surrounded by major controversy

Iranian authorities stir controversy by allowing Syrian women to attend a soccer World Cup qualifier while refusing to let in Iranian women.

Ankara must go through US, Russia to get to YPG

Recent developments on the ground suggest that any new Syria incursion by Turkey could encounter unexpected obstacles.

Hundreds of Russian children found in Mideast orphanages

Children ripped from their homes in Russia and secreted off by relatives said to be fighting for the Islamic State are now turning up abandoned in the Middle East.

A convoy of Islamic State fighters and their families begin to depart from the Lebanon-Syria border zone in Qalamoun, Syria August 28, 2017. REUTERS/ Omar Sanadiki - RC15AA1676A0

Pro-Iranian Shiite factions lose popular support in Iraq

The recent agreement between Hezbollah and a group of pro-Islamic State fighters to arrange their evacuation from the Lebanese-Syrian border to the Syrian-Iraqi border triggered an outburst of public anger against Hezbollah and Iraqi factions fighting alongside Hezbollah on Syrian territory for years.

The son of senior Hamas militant Mazen Fuqaha sits on the shoulders of Hamas Gaza Chief Yehya Al-Sinwar during a memorial service for Fuqaha, in Gaza City March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1570813F60

Iran plays Hamas card

Iran's improved relations with Turkey, Qatar and Hamas send a message to the region.

Israeli soldiers from the 605 Combat Engineering Corps battalion take part in a training session on the Israeli side of the border between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights June 1, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo - D1AETZOHRRAA

Israel slow to recalibrate on Syria

Israel's original assessment of the Syrian war is no longer relevant, and the state must make strategic changes to face the threat of the regime, which is likely to remain in power with Iran's patronage.

Rebel fighters ride a military vehicle on the outskirts of Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) controlled Tell Rifaat town, northern Aleppo province, Syria October 22, 2016. Picture taken October 22, 2016. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - S1AEUIPWQCAB

Turkish-backed rebels exchange daily fire with SDF in Aleppo

In the northern countryside of Aleppo, the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, retaliates to the shelling from Turkish-backed Syrian rebels, pushing civilians to leave their homes.

An Islamic State flag flies over the custom office of Syria's Jarablus border gate as it is pictured from the Turkish town of Karkamis, in Gaziantep province, Turkey August 1, 2015. Karkamis is a Turkish town of 10,500 people that sits directly opposite the border post. Shut for more than a year, the military sealed the crossing with a breeze block wall a few months ago. Behind it, just inside Syria, the black flag of Islamic State flaps in the breeze. Karkamis lies on the northeastern edge of a rectangle o

Stranded by US airstrikes, IS fighters fleeing Lebanon retreat to Syria

The Pentagon says it will leave the militants alone if they don't try to link up with Islamic State forces on the Iraqi border.