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July 12, 2026

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Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) welcomes France's President Emmanuel Macron for a joint press conference in Damascus on July 7, 2026.

Explainer

How Macron seeks to carve out France's role in new Syria

French President Emmanuel Macron became the first Western leader to visit Syria since the fall of the Assad regime, showcasing Paris' support for Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa while seeking to secure a share of the country's emerging reconstruction market.

US President Donald Trump meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) on the sidelines of the NATO Summit at Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, on July 8, 2026.

US to drop Syria from terror blacklist

The terrorism label remained a key obstacle to Syria's postwar reconstruction.

Latest News

Explainer

French energy, shipping giants explore Syria deals during Macron visit

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shakes hands with France's President Emmanuel Macron following a joint press conference in Damascus on July 7, 2026.

Macron's Syria visit eyes to boost France's economic role: What to know

Ludovic MARIN / AFP via Getty Images

Two explosions hit Damascus as Macron visits Syria

Security personnel and first responders prepare to cordon off an area near the Four Seasons Hotel following two blasts nearby in Damascus on July 7, 2026. Syrian authorities said 18 people were wounded by two blasts in central Damascus on July 7 near the hotel where France's president spent the night, with the Elysee Palace saying his visit is ongoing. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / 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

A fighter with the Turkey-backed Faylaq al-Sham rebel faction in Syria shoots in the air during the funeral of 10 of the faction's fighters in the northwestern city of Idlib, on October 26, 2020, following their death in a Russian air strike. - Air strikes by Syrian regime ally Russia killed 78 fighters from the turkey-backed Faylaq al-Sham faction when they targeted a training camp in the Jabal Duwayli area in Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. (Photo by Mohammed AL-RIFAI / AFP)

Russian strikes kill dozens of Turkey-backed rebels in Syria's Idlib

The strikes on Monday reportedly targeted a training camp run by the Failaq al-Sham group.

Syrian pro-regime fighters and journalists enter the courtyard of the museum of Maaret al-Numan in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on January 30, 2020. - Maaret al-Numan is nestled in a UNESCO-listed region of ancient villages and its mosaics museum had achieved international renown.
The museum, housed in an Ottoman-era caravanserai, was seriously damaged in a government barrel bomb attack in 2015. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Syrian journalists in Idlib face crackdown from jihadist-affiliated government

The government affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria has decreed that journalists can’t work in their areas of control without a permit.

Smoke billows from a reported Russian airstrike near the village of Hafsarjah, in the western countryside of Idlib province in northwestern Syria, on September 11, 2020. (Photo by Abdulaziz KETAZ / AFP) (Photo by ABDULAZIZ KETAZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: US drone strike kills at least 10 at al-Qaeda meeting in Idlib

Some of the dead were reportedly rivals of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

A Turkish military convoy drives through the village of Iblin, near Ariha in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on October 20, 2020 after vacating the Morek post in Hama's countryside. - Turkey started withdrawing from one of its largest outposts in northwest Syria encircled for the past year by Syrian regime forces, a war monitor and a pro-Ankara rebel commander said. The outpost in Morek is Turkey's largest in the northwest province of Hama, which is now mostly under Syrian government control.

Turkey’s withdrawal in Idlib may be omen of war

Turkey’s decision to evacuate military posts in regime-held areas in Idlib is hardly reassuring when considered against the backdrop of its continued military buildup elsewhere in the region.

US won’t change Syria policy to free missing Americans, Pompeo says

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked if the Trump administration would consider meeting the Syrian regime's terms, which reportedly include withdrawing all American forces from the country.

Some Syrians prefer Idlib over areas under control of Turkish-backed armed groups

While security chaos is deemed limited in Idlib, areas under the control of Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army factions are suffering from poor security conditions amid frequent assassinations and bombings targeting civilians and military personnel.

A Turkish military convoy drives through the village of Iblin, near Ariha in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on October 20, 2020 after vacating the Morek post in Hama's countryside. - Turkey started withdrawing from one of its largest outposts in northwest Syria encircled for the past year by Syrian regime forces, a war monitor and a pro-Ankara rebel commander said. The outpost in Morek is Turkey's largest in the northwest province of Hama, which is now mostly under Syrian government control.

Turkish forces withdraw from largest base in northeast Syria

Ankara has begun pulling back forces and equipment from an observation post long surrounded by regime forces in Syria’s northeast Idlib province.

A fighter from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group is sprayed with decontamination liquid upon his release in a reported prisoner swap deal with regime forces in the town of Darret Ezza, about 30 kilometres northwest of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on May 16, 2020. (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP) (Photo by AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images)

Syrian extremist group in Idlib breaks with jihadist ideologue

When Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was first established, it taught its members the approach of prominent jihadist ideologue Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi, but it has now severed ties with him and recanted his ideology.

Catholic believers and clerics gather outside Greek-Melkite Patriarchal Cathedral of the Dormition of Our Lady to mark Palm Sunday in the capital Damascus in Bab Sharki, Old Damascus on April 14, 2019. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo credit should read LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Athens reaches out to Syria via Greek Orthodox community

Syria’s Greek Orthodox Christians hope the resumption of ties between Syria and Greece will help them recover from the war.

Debra Tice, the mother of missing journalist Austin Tice, addresses a press conference January 27, 2020 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. - Tice, who spent 83 days in Syria looking for her son, reiterated the belief that he remains alive and is being held, and advocated for his release. Austin, disappeared in Syria in 2012. (Photo by EVA HAMBACH / AFP) (Photo by EVA HAMBACH/AFP via Getty Images)

White House official traveled to Syria for secret hostage talks

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Kash Patel traveled to Damascus in an effort to secure the release of Americans hostages including Austin Tice and Majd Kamalmaz.

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.