When President Donald Trump shook hands with Syria‘s new leader and promised to lift sanctions on his country at the Saudi royal palace last week, it was a vivid demonstration of how the president’s Middle East diplomacy has all but sidelined Israel. “Tough guy, very strong past,” Trump said about President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who once … Read more
A delegation of Syrian Druse made a rare trip to Israel this week and visited a shrine revered by the faith as Israel seeks to extend its influence inside Syria after the fall of the dictator Bashar al-Assad. Both Israel and Syria have sizable communities of Druse — an Arabic-speaking religious minority scattered across the … Read more
Hundreds of civilians have sought refuge at a Russian air base on Syria’s coast, satellite imagery reveals, as thousands have fled violent unrest that the United Nations said on Tuesday appeared to have been driven by sectarianism. Footage and satellite images reviewed and verified by The New York Times indicated that civilians were sheltering in … Read more
In the Syrian capital, Damascus, the country’s new leader has hosted a national unity conference and welcomed foreign dignitaries as crowds gather at cafes, speaking out freely for the first time in decades. But 400 miles away in northeastern Syria, a region beyond the control of the Damascus government, battles that have been going on … Read more
President Trump’s sweeping executive order to halt foreign aid threatens to freeze a U.S. program supporting security forces inside a notorious camp in the Syrian desert that holds tens of thousands of Islamic State members and their families, Syrian and U.S. officials said. The order has also wreaked havoc on another U.S. organization in Syria … Read more
When the Arab Spring that toppled dictators in Tunisia, Libya, Yemen and Egypt began, in 2010, the al-Assad regime had already ruled Syrians through fear and repression for some 40 years, most of it under martial law. When power passed from Hafez al-Assad to his son Bashar in 2000, the regime appeared to rebrand. Bashar … Read more
For 20 years, I’ve been studying Western recruits to domestic and transnational terrorist organizations. I’ve interviewed jihadis, white-nationalist terrorists and eco-terrorists to understand their motivations and to prevent future violence. In my view, the appeal of some of the most crucial elements that ISIS offered to vulnerable or confused Western recruits — doctrinal certainty, identity, … Read more
Syria’s main international airport in Damascus will reopen next week, the new government said on Saturday, as it tries to re-establish a sense of normalcy after the uprising that toppled President Bashar al-Assad. The announcement came amid tensions along the border between Syria and Lebanon, where four Lebanese solders were wounded in clashes on Friday … Read more
Syria’s new leaders are set to meet the French and German foreign ministers in the capital, Damascus, on Friday in one of the highest-level Western diplomatic visits since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad last month. Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s top diplomat, and Jean-Noël Barrot, the French foreign minister, arrived in Damascus for the first such … Read more
Syrian citizens gather outside Saydnaya Convent during the lighting of the Christmas tree, in Saydnaya town on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 24, 2024. | Photo Credit: AP Sarah Latifa had feared that her Christian community in Syria may struggle to celebrate its first Christmas since Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad … Read more