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

Palmyra

Syria

July 9, 2026

Damascus 12:10 am

24°C

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.

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.

Explainer

French energy, shipping giants explore Syria deals during Macron visit

The two countries signed preliminary pacts spanning transport, healthcare, banking, infrastructure and development on Tuesday, even as twin explosions in the capital underscored the fragile investment environment.

Ludovic MARIN / AFP via Getty Images

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

The two leaders discussed ways to strengthen cooperation and various regional developments during the first visit by a Western head of state to Syria since the civil war ended.

Latest News

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)

Analysis

How Syria’s wheat fields turned into first battleground over reconstruction

Farmers roast harvested wheat using fire in a field on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, on May 18, 2026.

Haddon Barth

By Haddon Barth

Analysis

Can a UAE-backed Syria-Iraq corridor become Gulf's next trade route?

An aerial view shows port of the western Syrian port city of Latakia, on Dec. 18, 2024.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Clashes between Druze fighters, Syrian forces raise fears of renewed violence

Volunteers of the Druze-led National Guard manage traffic at a checkpoint, Suwayda, Syria, Jan. 22, 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

Demonstrators chant and burn tires as they gather in the Syrian opposition-held town of al-Bab.

Turkey turns up pressure on allies in Syria

Turkey is using the jihadis’ march into Afrin to push its rebel allies in Syria to reorganize as a coherent, disciplined force. But what happens next if the factions fail to do so by the reported year-end deadline?

AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images

Turkish-backed faction blocks fuel en route to Idlib

The Free Syrian Army’s Third Legion is reportedly preventing fuel from reaching Idlib, which is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, after the recent fighting between the two parties.

A Syrian teacher shows letters on a board at school in the village of al-Shamatiyah on the ourskirts of Deir ez-Zor, Syria, Feb. 7, 2018.

Culture

Syrian Kurds ban niqab in schools in northeast Syria

The decision to ban the niqab at schools by the US-aligned Syrian group has angered some Arab constituents.

This picture taken on March 24, 2019, shows a discarded Islamic State flag.

Syrian man sentenced in Turkey for burning two alive under Islamic State

A Turkish court has sentenced a Syrian man for ordering the burning executions of two Turkish nationals in 2016, but many aspects of the grisly murder remain in the dark.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley holds a photo of a victim of the 2013 Syrian Ghouta chemical attack.

US blacklists Syrian military officials over 2013 chemical attack

Three Syrian military officers were designated for their alleged participation in the August 2013 sarin gas attack on Ghouta.

ISIS convoy

Islamic State regains momentum in Syria's Kurdish areas

The Islamic State has launched several attacks against the Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria amid lax security by the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Military vehicles of a joint Russian-Turkish patrol pass through the M4 highway, which links the northern Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Latakia, near Ariha in the rebel-held northwestern Idlib province, Syria, June 10, 2020.

Russia oversees Syrian forces’ military exercises in northwest Syria

Russia is testing the readiness of the Syrian government forces in their area of deployment on the outskirts of Idlib, in what some fear is a prelude to a wide-scale military operation to uproot the opposition in northwest Syria.

Turkish troops are pictured in the area of Kafr Jannah on the outskirts of the Syrian town of Afrin on Oct. 18, 2022.

Syrian jihadist group HTS, armed groups agree to uneasy truce

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has seized several cities and towns in areas under the control of the Turkish-backed factions after days of clashes between rival factions.

Abdul Hakim al-Shishani, commander of the Ajnad al-Kavkaz group (circled in red) with a Chechen fighting unit, Oct. 15, 2022.

Chechen fighters leave Syria to battle Russians in Ukraine

Abdul Hakim al-Shishani, a veteran of the Chechen-Russian war in the 1990s and commander of the Ajnad al-Kavkaz group fighting Syrian government forces in Latakia, arrived in Ukraine with a group of Chechen fighters to battle Russian forces.

A general shot taken on June 30, 2015, shows a neighborhood in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Syrian government retaliates for killing of soldiers by Islamic State

The Syrian government and Russia accused the Islamic State of blowing up a troop bus of the Syrian army’s Fourth Division in its main headquarters near Damascus.

LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images

Ukrainian breakaway region sends delegation to Syria

Syria, which has a history of supporting pro-Russia breakaway regions, recognized Donetsk and Luhansk earlier this year.

Members of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadist group bring reinforcements.

Is Turkey using HTS to strengthen its hand in Syria?

Amid Ankara’s overtures to Damascus, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham — the radical group controlling Idlib — has seized Afrin and is seeking a deal to expand its control further into territories held by factions allied with Turkey.