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January 13, 2026

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 Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the whole of Sweida province after days of sectarian bloodshed in the heartland of the Druze minority, a war monitor and witnesses said July 17, 2025.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

Bakr ALKASEM / AFP via Getty Images

Exclusive

Closed-door breakdown in Syria-Kurdish talks foreshadowed Aleppo clashes

The collapse of US-brokered Syria-Kurdish talks preceded the Aleppo violence as Ankara continued to press Damascus on the Syrian Democratic Forces' future.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Safin HAMID / AFP via Getty Images

Sharaa tells Iraq's Barzani Kurds integral to Syria amid fears of Aleppo spillover

More than 140,000 people have been displaced by fighting between Syrian government and Kurdish forces in Aleppo and the situation has captured the attention of Kurdistan Region and federal government leaders in neighboring Iraq.

Latest News

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

Turkey's Fidan says Israel ties harden SDF stance as Syria clashes grow

ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images

Aleppo clashes between Kurdish forces, Syrian government test US diplomacy

Bakr ALkasem / AFP via Getty Images

Lebanon pursues remnants of Syrian regime in country: What we know

Omar HAJ KADOUR / 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

Tice

Austin Tice's mother says White House a 'hurdle' to his return

Debra Tice, whose son Austin disappeared while reporting on the Syrian war in 2012, called on the White House to do more to ensure his safe return.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby listens to questions from reporters during a press briefing at the Pentagon on Sept. 3, 2021, in Arlington, Virginia.

CENTCOM investigating latest Syria drone strike for civilian harm

The admission of potential civilian harm comes after the US defense secretary ordered a new review of a separate lethal strike in Syria.

Idlib zoo

Idlib opens first zoo

A zoo featuring both wild and domestic animals has opened in Idlib as part of a larger project to restore normal amenities to the war-torn region of Syria.

Idlib horse

HTS subsidizes bread in Idlib as part of attempt to govern

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani is subsidizing the rapidly increasing cost of bread in Idlib in response to growing resentment against his organization.

Paramedics transport the corpse of a Syrian who died of the coronavirus during a funeral in the village of Barisha, Idlib province, Syria, Sept. 30, 2021.

Unprecedented COVID spread plagues health sector in Syria's Daraa

The number of COVID cases has increased steadily in most of the cities and towns of Daraa during the past few weeks amid a deteriorating health sector.

A Syrian child poses atop a stack of neutralized shells at a metal scrapyard on the outskirts of Maaret Misrin town in the northwestern Idlib province, on March 10, 2021.

Idlib’s children become breadwinners amidst rising poverty

Worsening living conditions and soaring poverty rates in Idlib force more and more children to drop out of school and start working to help their families meet their basic needs.

Syria games

Gaming offers livelihood for some young Syrians

Video games have recently become a way to earn money for young Syrians amid scarce job opportunities in all fields and financial hardships.

US soldiers patrol an area near Syria's northeastern Semalka border crossing with Iraq's Kurdish autonomous territory, on Nov. 1, 2021.

Islamic State down but not out in Syria and Iraq: Pentagon report

Also, Al-Monitor’s on-the-ground reporting on the security situations in Syria and Iraq, including the impact of the Turkish lira crisis on Idlib.

Syria refugees

US amends sanctions regulations to ease aid delivery in Syria

An amended general license allows NGOs in Syria to take part in otherwise prohibited activities, including new investment in Syria and transactions with the Syrian government.

Children on Nov. 20, 2021, carry a bucket of water, in the Bardaqli camp for displaced people in the town of Dana in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, as winter approaches.

Deteriorating Turkish lira hurts residents in Syria's Idlib

The depreciation of the Turkish lira against the US dollar has resulted in worsening living conditions in Idlib and increased the people’s resentment against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Salvation Government, which they hold primarily responsible for the economic crisis.

A memorial to victims of the 1960 fire in Amude, Syria. Image taken Nov. 5, 2021

Syrian-Kurdish couple sets Amude's cinema ghosts to rest

Since a deadly fire in 1960, going to the cinema has been taboo in the Kurdish town of Amude in northeastern Syria, and a couple who recently emigrated from Europe hopes to change things.

ABDULAZIZ KETAZ/AFP via Getty Images

Drought parches Idlib governorate

Drought has dried up the Duwaisat Dam reservoir, west of Idlib, hitting farmers hard.