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Syria

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Syria. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

Capital

Damascus

Head of State

President Bashar al-Assad

Head of Government

Prime Minister Hussein Arnous

last updated:

29 November, 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives to meet US President Joe Biden at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Lima, Peru, on November 16. Photo: AFP

US-China relations

Opinion | 2024 shows US-China tensions no longer the biggest story

Unrestrained regional powers jostling for control, building weapons and taking bolder risks are influencing trajectory of world politics.

3 hours agovideocam

Middle East

Syria says armed groups agree to disband, merge under defence ministry

24 Dec 2024 - 8:30PMvideocam

Middle East

Syrian Christians protest ‘injustice’, burning of Christmas tree

24 Dec 2024 - 6:23PM

Middle East

Opinion | Fall of Syria’s Assad narrows China’s diplomatic space in the Middle East

There is too much power in the hands of the US and regional actors like Turkey for China to play a key role.

22 Dec 2024 - 5:30AMvideocam

A man walks across from the embassy of China in the Syrian capital Damascus on December 12. Islamist-led rebels took Damascus in a lightning offensive on December 8, ousting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria. Photo: AFP

Middle East

Israel and Turkey seize the chance to shape Syria’s future post-Assad

While Turkey backs the HTS regime, Israel is destroying its military capacity and claiming territory – fuelling fears of fragmentation.

21 Dec 2024 - 5:30PM

Middle East

US scraps US$10 million bounty on Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa

Top US diplomat for the Middle East Barbara Leaf welcomed ‘positive messages’ from their talks, including a promise to fight terrorism.

21 Dec 2024 - 4:28AM

Video | Syria’s new de facto leader Golani calls on West to lift sanctions

Golani said Syria’s success depends on Western countries lifting sanctions after the fall of the Assad regime.

20 Dec 2024 - 9:10PMvideocam

Golani calls on the West to lift sanctions on Syria

Golani called on Western countries to lift sanctions after the fall of the Assad regime

20 Dec 2024 - 7:32PM

Middle East

US diplomats visit Syria to meet new rulers, still deemed a terrorist group

Diplomats from the United States have not been to Damascus on a formal mission since the early days of the civil war, which began in 2011.

20 Dec 2024 - 11:53PMvideocam

Middle East

US says it doubled number of its troops in Syria before Assad’s fall

Washington has for years said it has some 900 military personnel in Syria as part of international efforts against Isis.

20 Dec 2024 - 2:45PMvideocam

US soldiers and US Bradley Fighting Vehicles in northeastern Syria in 2012. File photo: AFP

China-Middle East relations

China warns leaders in Syria not to threaten security elsewhere

Chinese envoy addresses UN briefing days after Turkestan Islamic Party publishes video encouraging Xinjiang Muslims to wage jihad.

19 Dec 2024 - 1:05PMvideocam

A Chinese envoy to the UN says China respects choices made by the Syrian people and does not seek to interfere in internal Syrian affairs. Photo: Reuters

Mass gravesites found across Syria

Victims were allegedly tortured and killed by the now-overthrown Assad government

18 Dec 2024 - 1:46PM

Middle East

Mass graves in Syria reveal horrifying state-run ‘machinery of death’

After Assad’s fall, the task of unearthing the dead from Syria’s mass graves is just beginning.

18 Dec 2024 - 8:20PMvideocam

Middle East

Israel plans an extended occupation of Syrian buffer zone

Benjamin Netanyahu entered the buffer zone on Tuesday, making him the first sitting Israeli leader to set foot this far into Syria.

18 Dec 2024 - 3:19PM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz with members of the Israeli army at Mount Hermon in the annexed Golan Heights. Photo: GPG via AFP

Middle East

The groups vying for control in Syria

The most powerful group in Syria that spearheaded the rebels' advance is the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham

17 Dec 2024 - 8:00PM

08:01

Middle East

Syria’s Golani says rebel factions will be ‘disbanded’, fighters to join army

HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani says ‘Syria must remain united’ following Assad’s ouster.

17 Dec 2024 - 7:40PMvideocam

Middle East

At least 100,000 bodies in Syria mass grave, US advocacy group says

Victims were people tortured and killed by the now-overthrown Assad government.

17 Dec 2024 - 1:31PMvideocam

Israel-Gaza war

Israeli team in Qatar for talks on potential Gaza ceasefire deal, official says

Israel’s defence minister says have ‘not been this close to a deal’ on hostages in Gaza.

17 Dec 2024 - 10:56AM

The silhouettes of a military vehicle and a soldier are seen near the Gaza border. Photo: Reuters

United States

No US government group in Syria to search for journalist Austin Tice

US not ruling out sending people to Damascus to find the missing journalist, who was captured in 2012.

17 Dec 2024 - 3:41PMvideocam

Middle East

Syria’s ousted leader Assad says he wanted to keep fighting but Russians evacuated him

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad issued his first statement since being toppled from power.

17 Dec 2024 - 12:17PMvideocam

A glimpse into Assad’s private life in Syria

Neighbours of the ousted leader have opened up about difficulties living next to the Assad family

16 Dec 2024 - 5:00PM

02:21

Middle East

Nations work to build ties with Syria’s post-Assad rulers

Qatar and Turkey reopen embassies and Western powers engage with rebel group as Russia withdraws some diplomatic staff.

16 Dec 2024 - 4:08PM

Damascus University students pull a toppled statue of the late Syria’s President Hafez al-Assad, father of Bashar al-Assad. Photo: Reuters

Middle East

Life of Syria’s Assad revealed in private photos found in abandoned mansions

Candid photos reveal a stark contrast to the ousted Syrian leader’s public image.

16 Dec 2024 - 6:26PMvideocam

Middle East

Syria rebel leader meets with visiting UN envoy

Pair discussed need to focus on Syrian territorial unity, reconstruction and achieving economic development, rebel statement says.

16 Dec 2024 - 10:32AM

Britain

UK says it will provide US$63 million in humanitarian aid for Syrians

Foreign Minister David Lammy said Britain will also work ‘diplomatically to help secure better governance in Syria’s future’.

16 Dec 2024 - 6:11AM

Displaced families collect aid provided by the United Nations at a refugee camp in the town of Al-Bardaqli, northern Syria. On Sunday, the UK said it would release US$63 million in aid for the ‘most vulnerable’ Syrians and for those in need in neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan. Photo: EPA-EFE

Ukraine war

Ukraine’s Zelensky announces humanitarian aid for Syria

Ukrainian president aims to supply food to Syria in the aftermath of the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

16 Dec 2024 - 4:31PMvideocam

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visiting troops on the southern front line in the Zaporizhzhia region. Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service via AFP

Middle East

Israel plans to double population on occupied Golan Heights, citing threats from Syria

Israel captured most of the strategic plateau from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War, annexing it in 1981.

16 Dec 2024 - 11:13AM

Middle East

Turkey will offer military training to Syria if new administration requests

Nato member Turkey backed the Syrian rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad last weekend, ending a 13-year civil war.

15 Dec 2024 - 5:48PM

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