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

Palmyra

Syria

October 28, 2026

Damascus 6:02 pm

22°C

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

Latest News

Analysis

How Hormuz crisis is reshaping economic ties between Iraq and Syria

Trucks loaded with goods wait to cross over to Syria

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

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)

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

Kurdish security forces inspect the site of a bomb attack in the city of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, about 350 km (217 miles) north of Baghdad, September 29, 2013. Six people were killed on Sunday in a series of explosions outside a security directorate in the capital of Iraq's usually peaceful autonomous Kurdistan region, security and medical sources said. Gunfire could be heard after the blasts in Arbil that wounded a further 36 people, according to the city's health directorate

Prison Break, Suicide, Bombing Rock Iraqi Kurdistan

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq deals with the implications of its first terrorist attack in six years.

A student studying in Syria carries his luggage as he crosses through the Quneitra border crossing between Israel and Syria, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights July 11, 2013. A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross said 23 students, mostly from the Druze community, crossed into the Golan Heights from Syria at Quneitra on Thursday. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (POLITICS SOCIETY) - RTX11JTW

Golan Heights Students Return To Syria Despite War

Despite the war in Syria, some students from the Golan Heights are still crossing back into Syria to continue their university studies.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Cctober 8, 2013 during a meeting at the parliament in Ankara. Turkey lifted on October 8 a ban on women wearing the Islamic head scarf in state institutions, ending a decades-old restriction as part of a package of reforms instigated by Erdogan. AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Erdogan's Frustration Shows Over Syria Deal

The Turkish prime minister is questioning John Kerry's praise of Syria’s compliance to date with UN Security Council Resolution 2118.

A man works at a makeshift oil refinery site in al-Mansoura village in Raqqa's countryside May 5, 2013. Many civilians in the village who lost their jobs due to the Syrian conflict are making a living by refining crude oil to extract useful fuel such as gasoline and kerosene for sale. Picture taken May 5, 2013. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT ENERGY BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT) - RTXZIAB

Natural Gas Resources May Be Backstory in Syria War

The Syria war, like many of the region's other conflicts, has an important oil and gas angle.

A Palestinian girl, who had been living at Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, looks out of a bus window, as the bus arrives at the Lebanese-Syrian border, in al-Masnaa December 18, 2012. More than 1,000 Palestinian refugees living in Syria have crossed into Lebanon in the past 24 hours, a source at the Lebanese border said on Tuesday, after Syrian rebels took control of a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY) - RTR3BPTI

Displaced Syrians Shed Light On Lebanon’s Internally Displaced

The continuous flow of displaced Syrians into Lebanon throughout the civil war has served to bring attention to internally displaced Lebanese citizens, who lead similarly disaffected lives.

An officer of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) stands guard near the Syrian-Iraq border October 31, 2012. Iraqi Kurdish President Masoud Barzani warned Kurds in Syria against being sucked into the "fires of discord," urging them to preserve Kurdish unity as tensions between rival factions threaten to spillover into violence. Syria's Kurds see the war ravaging their country as an unprecedented opportunity to gain the kind of freedoms enjoyed by their ethnic kin in neighbouring Iraq, where they

Kurdish Groups Take Control In Northeast Syria

Kurdish autonomy in north-east Syria will struggle if Syria’s Kurdish forces do not reach an understanding with local Arab residents.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (R) speaks during an interview with Turkey's Halk TV in Damascus, in this handout photograph distributed by Syria's national news agency SANA on October 4, 2013. Assad has told Turkey it will pay a heavy price for backing rebels fighting to oust him, accusing it of harbouring "terrorists" along its border who would soon turn against their hosts. In an interview with Turkey's Halk TV due to be broadcast later on Friday, Assad called Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan "big

Assad Warns Erdogan On Turkey’s Syria Policy

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s latest interview reveals again the deep personal enmity between him and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan address an audience during the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's (EBRD) 2013 Annual Meeting and Business Forum in Istanbul May 10, 2013. Erdogan said Turkey would support a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone in Syria and warned that Damascus crossed President Barack Obama's "red line" on chemical weapons use long ago, according to an NBC News interview released Thursday. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTXZH9Z

Erdogan Should Back Geneva II Conference on Syria

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan could benefit Turkey by supporting the Geneva conference, not clinging to failing regime-change policies.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal looks at his watch before his interview with Reuters in Doha November 29, 2012. Meshaal said the de facto recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state won by his rival Mahmoud Abbas should be seen alongside Gaza's latest conflict with Israel as a single, bold strategy that could empower all Palestinians. Meshaal said the short war which claimed 162 Palestinian lives and five Israelis was concluded on terms set by the Palestinian Islamist movement and ended its isolation, creating

Hamas Activists Accuse Meshaal Of Preferring Life in Exile

Rumors about Hamas Chief of Political Bureau Khaled Meshaal leaving Qatar for Beirut have sparked criticism within the movement toward those exiled leaders who refuse to return to Gaza.

Ahmad Jarba (L), head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, is seen reflected in a mirror as he attends a news conference about chemical weapons in New York, September 27, 2013. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTX142FX

Syrian Opposition Regroups After UN Resolution on Chemical Weapons

The Syrian government and opposition are refocusing their strategies after UN Security Council Resolution 2118.

Hugi pic.jpg

Israel Remembers Vows of Soldier For Comrades in Golan

Vows by Dan Almagor during the Tel Saki battle were transformed 40 years later into a memorial site for the Israeli soldiers who died there.

A view shows damaged buildings in Aleppo's Karm al-Jabal district October 6, 2013. REUTERS/Nour Kelze (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3FNSO

Syrian Islamist Forces Gain in Aleppo

Divisions among Syrian opposition groups may be hindering Geneva II.