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Syria

October 23, 2026

Damascus 11:07 am

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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

Syrian army soldiers fire during a battle in Syria with rebels near the border fence with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights September 1, 2014. Heavy fighting between Syrian army forces and rebels erupted on the Golan Heights on Monday, a Reuters photographer said, but it was unclear if either of the two sides had gained an advantage to control a key frontier crossing. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR44GUY

Israeli Golan residents tell government to 'wake up'

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Eli Malka, head of the Golan Regional Council, expressed concern that with violence in Syria spilling over into the Golan, inaction by the Israeli government might lead to residents there living under conditions similar to those of communities along the border with Gaza.

Israeli soldiers observe the Syrian side of the Quneitra border crossing between the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights and Syria, August 29, 2014. U.N. officials shuttled along the rocky frontier between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Friday, trying to establish the whereabouts of 44 United Nations peacekeepers seized by al-Qaeda-linked militants inside Syria. Israeli forces took up positions at Quneitra, a fortified crossing between Syria and the Golan, barely 400 meters (437 yards) from Nu

Fighting on Golan border puts Israel on the spot

Israel has intercepted a drone over the Golan Heights, but turned a blind eye to a Syrian warplane near its border, highlighting the complex reality of the war in Syria and the difficulty in calculating what is in Israel's best interest.

Former prime minister Saad al-Hariri (R) speaks during a meeting with the members of the "14 March Alliance" as former President Amin Gemayel (2nd R) and Samir Geagea (2nd L), leader of the Christian Lebanese Forces listen in Beirut August 8, 2014. Al-Hariri returned to Lebanon on Friday for the first time in three years, on a visit seen as reasserting a moderate influence over the Sunni community following a deadly incursion by Islamist militants. REUTERS/Dalati Nohra/Handout via Reuters (LEBANON - Tags: P

Hariri’s visit sign of Iranian-Saudi rapprochement

Saad Hariri's return to Lebanon coincided with a rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and appears to be part of Riyadh's plan to invest in fighting terrorism and promoting moderate Islam.

Residents of Tabqa city and Islamic State militants tour the streets in celebration after Islamic State militants took over Tabqa air base in northeast Syria August 24, 2014. Islamic State militants stormed the air base in northeast Syria on Sunday, capturing most of it from government forces after days of fighting over the strategic location, a witness and a monitoring group said. Fighting raged inside the walls of the Tabqa air base, the Syrian army's last foothold in an area otherwise controlled by IS, w

US gives new priority to foreign fighters in Syria

US regional allies, including Turkey, may finally be forced to crack down on extremists in Syria.

General view of Lebanon's Roumieh Central Prison overlooking Beirut, where riots erupted on April 7 and continue today April 8. A prison warden and three inmates were slightly wounded in the revolt by prisoners demanding better conditions at Lebanon's largest jail which holds 3,000 inmates. - RTXIFDY

Lebanon's main prison a hotbed for terrorists

Roumieh Prison holds a variety of detainees, including terrorists and radical Islamists who pose a challenge to security in the lockup and in the country.

Syrian women help traumatized children smile again

Kindergarten teachers in the Syrian flashpoint city of Zabadani established a center to provide much-needed psychological support for local children.

People wave Kurdish flags and hold up a picture of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan (C) of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) during a gathering celebrating Newroz, which marks the arrival of spring and the new year, in Diyarbakir March 21, 2014. Ocalan called on the Turkish government on Friday to create a legal framework for their peace talks, whose fate is looking increasingly uncertain a year after he called a ceasefire by his fighters. Tens of thousands gathered in Diyarbakir, the largest

Is PKK becoming a new Middle East power?

Turkey’s Kurdish movement is proving to be the only force resolved to fight the Islamic State, while boosting its political might in Turkey.

Lebanon's senior Hezbollah official Sheikh Nabil Qawouq leads the payers around the coffin of Ibrahim al-Haj, a Hezbollah commander who died during a mission in Iraq, during his funeral in Mashghara village in the Bekaa Valley July 30, 2014. A Hezbollah commander has died during a mission in Iraq, sources familiar with the incident said on Wednesday, indicating the Lebanese group that is already fighting in Syria's civil war may be involved in a second conflict in the region. Four sources in Lebanon named t

Hezbollah calls for resistance against IS

Hezbollah sources told Al-Monitor that the Islamic State’s attack on Arsal was only the beginning of another series of attacks in parts of Lebanon.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SAMMY KETZ
A memorial bearing the portraits of soldiers from the city of Tartus, who died during the Syrian conflict, is seen on a wall in the city northwest of Damascus on May 18, 2014. Tartus has itself largely escaped the conflict in Syria, but posters of its sons killed fighting for the regime elsewhere in the country line the western city's main road. AFP PHOTO/JOSEPH EID (Photo credit should read JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images)

Alawites prepare as IS, Jabhat al-Nusra close in on regime areas

Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad long dismissed the threat from the Islamic State, but that threat has become real as jihadists move into the Homs countryside, approaching Alawite and Christian areas.

Clashes between Druze, Bedouins rattle Syria’s south

Violent clashes erupted last week between Druze residents of Suwayda province and Bedouins backed by Jabhat al-Nusra, threatening to drag this relatively quiet area into Syria’s civil war.

A rebel fighter knocks a hole in a wall inside a room at Karm al-Tarab frontline in Aleppo July 30, 2014. Picture taken July 30, 2014. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR40SK6

Islamic State calls for revenge against Syria’s rebels

The Islamic State alleges Syrian rebels raped and abused female relatives of IS militants when rebels ousted IS from Aleppo earlier this year, and is using that as a rallying cry for its militants as it pushes into rebel-held territory.

Peshmerga fighters walk at Mosul Dam in northern Iraq August 21, 2014. Iraqi and Kurdish forces recaptured Iraq's biggest dam from Islamist militants with the help of U.S. air strikes to secure a vital strategic objective in fighting that threatens to break up the country, Kurdish and U.S. officials said on Monday. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR438UJ

Russia keeps eye on Islamic State

Russia views the expansion of the Islamic State in Iraq as a threat to its own security, especially given the potential return home of Russian-born jihadists.