Damascus

Foreign fighters pose integration challenge for Damascus - analysis

Syria’s new government is weighing containment, military incorporation, and security pressure as it seeks to dismantle independent armed networks.

|ByRIZIK ALABI/THE MEDIA LINE
Syrian Public Security Forces drive along a street as they enter the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on February 3, 2026, under an integration deal with Kurdish authorities.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, meets with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Ankara, last April. Ankara is quietly assembling the architecture of permanent regional power, the writer says.

‘Grant me the governorship of Jerusalem’: Turkish Interior Minister prays for control of Israel

Referring to the fall of the Assad regime, the interior minister said he hoped he would see Jerusalem “liberated” in the same way Damascus was, and that one day “those lands will be ours once again."

|ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
Children hold signs on the day Syrian Kurds demonstrate to mark Kurdish Language Day, demanding constitutional recognition of the Kurdish language by the Syrian government, in Qamishli, Syria, May 14, 2026.

Syria’s limited Kurdish election exposes limits of Damascus’s democratic transition - analysis

Syria had already held types of limited elections in other areas of Syria last year. However, areas outside government control did not hold a vote.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
A member of the security personnel arrives at the scene near a burning vehicle following an explosion in Damascus on May 19, 2026.

WATCH: Car bomb explodes near Defense Ministry building in Damascus

Syria’s health ministry said emergency and ambulance teams had responded to the explosion, which killed one soldier and wounded around 12 people.

|ByREUTERS

Syria condemns UAE embassy attack, Gulf nations voice outrage over protests

Protests targeting the UAE Embassy in Damascus spark regional condemnation, with Gulf nations criticizing the attack as a violation of international law, while Syria seeks to restore UAE ties.

APRIL 5, 2026BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Men walk past the UAE Embassy in Damascus on December 12, 2024; illustrative.

Cross-border tunnels spotlight Syria-Lebanon smuggling, security tensions

Official Syrian sources told The Media Line that army units, during sweeping security operations in border areas, uncovered two tunnels stretching between Syrian and Lebanese territory.

APRIL 5, 2026ByTHE MEDIA LINE STAFF
DEFENSE MINISTER Marhaf Abu Qasra inspects an armored brigade in the Syrian Army, March 31.

Turkey’s rearrest of fugitive revives mystery of Syrian defector’s disappearance

The capture of a convicted kidnapper is renewing scrutiny of how two Syrian defectors were abducted in Turkey and handed to Assad’s security apparatus.

APRIL 5, 2026ByRIZIK ALABI/THE MEDIA LINE
Önder Sığırcıkoğlu, in the custody of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization.

Syria detains former political security chief Muhammad Mansoura amid Assad-era abuse investigations

Mansoura is considered one of the prominent security figures who held sensitive positions within the structure of the former Syrian regime.

APRIL 1, 2026ByRIZIK ALABI/THE MEDIA LINE
Israel police arrests a terror suspect in east Jerusalem

Syrian Jews in Damascus donate meat for iftar, support Muslim families in need during Ramadan

Needy families receive Ramadan support as a small remaining Jewish community highlights longstanding ties with Muslim neighbors.

MARCH 22, 2026ByRIZIK ALABI/THE MEDIA LINE
Participants in the event from the Jewish community of Damascus.

US encourages Syrian action against Hezbollah, Damascus is hesitant, sources say

Despite historic enmity towards Hezbollah and Tehran, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has moved cautiously since US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran began on February 28.

MARCH 17, 2026ByREUTERS
A Syrian flag is displayed outside the White House following the meeting of US President Donald Trump and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, November 10, 2025.

Turkey's Ambassador to Syria, Nuh Yilmaz, presents credentials to President Sharaa in Damascus

Nuh Yilmaz, Turkey's new Ambassador to Syria, presents his credentials to President Sharaa, marking a significant step in bilateral relations.

MARCH 17, 2026BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Nuh Ylmaz talking to media at the EU Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, March 17, 2025; illustrative.

Syria appoints key Kurdish commander Sipan Hemo as deputy defense minister

As a deputy, Sipan Hemo will focus on an area in eastern Syria.

MARCH 10, 2026BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Sipan Hemo, the new deputy to the Syrian defense minister. August 14, 2025.

A small Herzliya museum brings Israel's most famous spy to life

In a small museum in Herzliya, Eli Cohen’s secret life unfolds in documents, artifacts, and a new English tour.

MARCH 4, 2026ByCHANI KAPLAN
The Eli Cohen Museum, located in Herzliya, only opened in 2022.

Pahlavi’s challenge: Will he overcome Kurdish distrust to lead a unified Iran? - opinion

Iran’s opposition struggles to unite as minority rights remain unresolved.

MARCH 2, 2026ByVEYSI DAG
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah and an Iranian opposition figure, speaks during the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Munich, Germany, February 13, 2026.