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Syria

October 24, 2026

Damascus 9:03 pm

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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

A Free Syrian Army fighter sits on sandbags in the refugee camp of Yarmouk, near Damascus, May 5, 2013. REUTERS/Ward Al-Keswani (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXZBH6

Israel Hits Syria, Sends Message to Iran

Israel believes that its airstrikes on Damascus are being considered with concern in Iran, writes Ben Caspit.

A protester holds up a picture of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr during a rally at the coastal town of Qatif, against Sheikh Nimr's arrest July 8, 2012. Sheikh Nimr, a prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric who was wanted by the police, was detained in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province on Sunday over calls for more rights for the minority Muslim sect in the Sunni monarchy, his brother and an activist said. REUTERS/Stringer (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST RELIGION POLITICS) - RTR34QU9

Saudi Arabia Clamps Down On Dissent

Haytham Mouzahem asks whether recent Saudi actions are tied to efforts to quell sectarian dissent and contain any spillover from either the Shiite-based uprising in Bahrain or the Syrian crisis.

Soldiers of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), stand on an observation tower overlooking Syria and located on the Israeli side of the 1973 Golan Heights ceasefire line with Syria March 21, 2012. Blue-helmeted United Nations peacekeeping troops patrolling a slice of Syrian territory to maintain a ceasefire with Israel face new risks as violence between Syrian government loyalists and rebels gets closer. Picture taken March 21, 2012. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR2ZRIQ

UN Forces on Israel’s Borders Confront Uncertain Future

Geoffrey Aronson writes from Cairo that while Egypt and Israel appear to be weathering the storm, for now, not so for Israel and Syria, with implications for UN forces tasked with keeping the peace.

A sign post near Kibbutz Merom Golan in the Golan Heights shows the distance from Israel's northern border to other destinations May 2, 2013. Israel's military said on Tuesday it had called up hundreds of reservists for a drill in northern Israel where tensions are high with neighbours Syria and Lebanon, but a military spokesman said there was no change in the overall security situation. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed the territory in 1981, a move not re

Israel’s Strategic Reset

Israel is reconsidering its new strategic approach to the region in the context of US policies toward Iran, Syria, Egypt and Israeli-Palestinian peace, writes Ben Caspit.

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speaks on television as a barber shaves a customer at a men's hairdresser shop in Beirut, April 30, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZ5BG

Hezbollah Leader Defends Involvement in Syria

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is basing his involvement in the Syrian war on grounds that are both religious and having to do with the conflict with Israel, writes Jean Aziz.

Lebanese men watch Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivering a televised speech at a cafe in Beirut on April 30, 2013. The chief of powerful Lebanese Shiite Muslim party Hezbollah, a close Damascus ally, said that Syria's friends would not let the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad fall. AFP PHOTO / ANWAR AMRO (Photo credit should read ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images)

Hezbollah Leader 'Will Not Let Syria Fall'

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has said that "Syria has real friends in the region, and the world will not let Syria fall into the hands of America, Israel or [radical Islamist] groups," reports Ali Hashem from Beirut.

Turkish soldiers block a road to Cilvegozu border gate near the town of Reyhanli on the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province February 11, 2013. A Syrian minibus exploded at Cilvegozu border post on Turkey's border with Syria near the Turkish town of Reyhanli on Monday, killing at least 13 people including Turkish citizens and wounding dozens more, Turkish officials said. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST DISASTER) - RTR3DNGS

Archbishops' Abduction Should Be A Warning to Turkey

The abduction of two Syrian archbishops by armed men on their way to Aleppo while returning from Turkey should be a warning to Ankara that it needs to review its security policies, writes Kadri Gursel.

Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri meets with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Beirut April 26, 2013. REUTERS/Hassan Ibrahim/Lebanese Parliament/Handout (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTXZ0YT

Russia Confronts Mideast SalafistsBy Courting Christians, Minorities

Russia is courting Middle Eastern minorities, especially Christians, in a bid to confront Salafist extremism, writes an Al-Monitor correspondent in Beirut.

A woman carries a photo of a dead former Hezbollah fighter during a rally marking Hezbollah's Martyrs Day in Beirut's suburbs November 12, 2012. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3ABKX

Lebanon's Future Movement Deals With Syria Conflict

Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian conflict has been a point of controversy within Lebanon across all sects, writes Elie Hajj.

Smoke rises after what activists said was a missile fired by a Syrian Air Force fighter jet loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in Deraa, April 26, 2013. REUTERS/Mazen Abu Mahmoud/Shaam News Network/Handout (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTE

The Red Line in Syria Has Long Been Crossed

Shlomi Eldar wonders why the world waits for the use of chemical weapons to launch a military operation ending the bloodshed in Syria.

A general view shows Khan al-Assal area near the northern city of Aleppo, near the site where forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad say was Tuesday's chemical weapon attack March 23, 2013. The United Nations said on Thursday it would investigate Syria's allegations that rebel forces used chemical weapons in an attack near Aleppo, but Western countries sought a probe of all claims concerning the use of such banned arms. The deaths of 26 people in that rocket attack became the focus of competing c

Why Russia Does Not Believe Syria Used Chemical Weapons

Russia does not believe that Syria used chemical weapons against insurgents, and therefore considers this week's revelation as information warfare to escalate the conflict, writes Fyodor Lukyanov.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (R) and his Israeli counterpart Moshe Yaalon (L) look out of the window during a helicopter tour of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights April 22, 2013. Israel suggested on Monday it would be patient before taking any military action against Iran's nuclear programme, saying during a visit by Hagel there was still time for other options. REUTERS/Jim Watson/Pool (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY TRAVEL) - RTXYVU8

Did Israel Ambush the US on Syria?

Whether or not Israel planned to ambush the US on Syria's chemical weapon use, the result has been successful in moving the US closer to Israel's position, writes Alon Ben David.