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October 27, 2026

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Mourners attend the funeral of those who were killed in airstrikes carried out by Jordan the night before on the village of Al-Taf in the Al-Lajat region, located in the northeastern countryside of Daraa, on Oct. 27, 2026.

Syria slams Jordan over crossborder strikes, denies coordination: What to know

Jordan said its airstrikes targeted ISIS fighters, while Syria said civilians were killed, sparking outrage.

New female cadets from the new women's police academy attend the first cohort graduation ceremony after completing a six-month training program, in al-Tal on the northern outskirts of Damascus, on Sept. 22, 2026.

Culture

Syrian women easy target in Sharaa’s drive to consolidate power

Syria’s interim president is balancing Western demands for inclusion with pressure from Islamist hard-liners as he seeks to consolidate power and shed his jihadi past.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives for the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly gathering, UN Headquarters, New York, Sept. 22, 2026.

Analysis

How Israel’s elections could bring thaw with Syria

The next Israeli government could have an opportunity to secure several diplomatic wins involving the United States and Iran by improving relations with Syria.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

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

Latest News

Analysis

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

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

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

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

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)

Explainer

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

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

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

Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman (L) and Parliament speaker Nabih Berri (3rd L) look on as Hezbollah's deputy leader Sheikh Naim Kassem (C) greets released Lebanese prisoner Maher Qorani at Beirut airport July 16, 2008. Five Lebanese freed from captivity in Israel were flown to a heroes' welcome in Beirut on Wednesday after Hezbollah returned the bodies of two Israeli soldiers seized in a cross-border raid in 2006. REUTERS/ Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON) - RTX7ZV4

Dispute between Lebanese president, Hezbollah heats up

As presidential elections approach in Lebanon, the dispute between President Michel Suleiman and Hezbollah over the latter’s intervention in Syria has intensified.

A Muslim (R) and a Christian Iraqi living in Jordan hold up their ink-stained index fingers after casting their ballot at a polling station at a government school in Amman March 5, 2010. Iraqis in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan started early voting ahead of the country's March 7 parliamentary election that will test Iraq's prospects for stability as U.S. troops prepare to leave. REUTERS/Ali Jarekji (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR2B98I

EU expresses support for Iraqi, Syrian civil society

An Iraqi-Syrian civil society delegation has met with decision-making bodies in the European Union, with the latter promising assistance in efforts to confront sectarianism in these two countries.

Military personnel, believed to be Russian servicemen, stand guard outside the territory of a Ukrainian military unit in the village of Perevalnoye outside Simferopol March 4, 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a robust defence of Russia's actions in Crimea on Tuesday and reserved the right to use force in Ukraine as a last resort, but he sought to ease East-West tension over fears of war in the former Soviet republic. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili (UKRAINE - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNRE

Turkey boxed in by Russian moves in Crimea

The Ukraine crisis will likely harden Russia’s support for Syria, further complicating Turkey’s regional policies.

Israeli soldiers stand atop an armoured personnel carrier (APC) positioned near the Lebanese border, close to the northern Israeli town of Shlomi February 27, 2014. Israel's northern region near Lebanon was tense on Thursday and the military ordered farmers away from fields abutting the border, a day after the Lebanese Hezbollah militia threatened to respond to an Israeli air strike that hit one of its bases on the border with Syria earlier in the week. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS)

Israeli raid fuels internal divisions in Lebanon

The Israeli raid along the Lebanese-Syrian border generated reactions of embarrassment among the Syrian regime and the opposition, and from Bashar al-Assad's allies in Lebanon and their opponents, but each for different reasons.

Syrian rebel force to receive Saudi arms has worked with al-Qaeda group

The leader of the Saudi-backed rebel Southern Front, which Riyadh intends to arm with advanced weaponry, has openly collaborated with al-Qaeda during the course of the Syria war.

Al-Monitor recognized by IPI as 'Free Media Pioneer'

The International Press Institute has awarded the annual Free Media Pioneer Award to Al-Monitor as “a model for independent coverage of the region through its news, features, analysis and commentary at a time of political upheaval.”

Syrian families queue to be registered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on February 18, 2014 in the Arsal refugee camp in the Lebanese Bekaa valley. More than 130,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011, and millions more have been displaced in what UN officials have described as the worst refugee crisis in two decades. AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)

Expectations low for Paris conference on Lebanon

Supporting Lebanon’s neutrality and providing limited funds to deal with the Syrian refugees may be all that the Paris conference achieves.

An Israeli policeman scuffles with a Palestinian during clashes near Lion's Gate in Jerusalem's Old City February 7, 2014. Tensions briefly ran high on Friday in Jerusalem's Old City following clashes that erupted between Israeli police and stone-throwing Palestinians on a compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (JERUSALEM - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX18CFC

The Jordan Option and Al-Aqsa Mosque

Jordan is torn between its special role in East Jerusalem and its concerns over the Palestinian impact on Jordanian identity.

Rescuers carry a wounded boy who survived what activists said was an air strike by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood February 26, 2014. REUTERS/Malek Al Shemali (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR3FQU3

Barrel bombings cause mass evacuation in east Aleppo

An exclusive first hand report on how fearful residents, along with opposition forces, have fled east Aleppo en masse as the Syrian government's barrel bombing campaign shows no sign of relenting.

A man mourns near the body of his brother, wrapped in a blanket, who was among those killed during Sunday night's suicide bomb attack at a popular coffee shop in the town of Tuz Khurmatu, 170 km (106 miles) north of Baghdad, July 17, 2006. The attack killed 21 people, mostly elderly men. REUTERS/Slahaldeen Rasheed (IRAQ) - RTR1FKIO

Turkmen caught between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan

Iraqi Turkmen are getting pressure from the Turkish government to work more closely with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq.

Participants drum with sticks and burn tyres during a performance called "freedom", in support of Ukrainian anti-government protesters who held rallies in Maidan Nezalezhnosti or Independence Square in Kiev, in front of the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood in central St. Petersburg February 23, 2014. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX19CK6

Ukraine’s effect on Russia's Syria policy? Not much

While Moscow will be preoccupied with the crisis in Ukraine, its support for a political settlement in Syria will not vary.

A policeman watches as a bus, destroyed in an earlier explosion, is towed away in Volgograd December 30, 2013. A bomb ripped apart a bus in Volgograd on Monday, killing 14 people in the second deadly attack blamed on suicide bombers in the southern Russian city in 24 hours and raising fears of Islamist attacks on the Winter Olympics. REUTERS/Sergei Karpov (RUSSIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW DISASTER TRANSPORT) - RTX16XGD

Russia deals with rise in terrorism linked to Syria, Mideast

Fresh terror attacks have made Russia more concerned about the threat of Islamic terrorism and have shaped the country's policy in the Middle East.