Syria, officially known as the Syrian Arab Republic, is an Arab nation in the Middle East, situated in the Levant region. The country boasts a rich history and some of the oldest inhabited cities in the world.
In 1963, Syria's government was taken over by the Ba'ath Party, led by Hafez al-Assad. For decades, he and his son and successor, Bashar al-Assad, would rule the country in a reign that has been highly criticized for being totalitarian and for carrying out widespread human rights abuses.
In 2011, a major civil war broke out in Syria, leaving governance of the country fractured between the Russia- and Iran-backed Assad regime based in Syria's largest city and capital of Damascus, US-backed rebel groups led by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Turkey-backed forces, and Islamists under the banner of Hay'at Tahir al-Shams (HTS).
However, in December 2024, HTS and its allies carried out a major offensive from their base of operations in the Idlib province, eventually fully ousting the Assad regime and seizing control of Damascus as well as other major cities such as Homs and Aleppo. Currently, HTS has been spearheading the establishment of a new Syrian interim government. However, the country still remains fractured between them, Assad loyalists, Turkey-backed forces, and the SDF and its allies.
Freedom Flotilla Coalition attempts to sail aid to Gaza • Hamas continues to look at Witkoff proposal • Hamas to issue response to Witkoff's ceasefire proposal
While the Syrian government said it conducted two raids in Damascus earlier this week, to arrest ISIS operatives, it has not yet acknowledged any attack by the terror group.
The weapons posed an international threat as well as a threat to Israel's maritime navigation abilities, the IDF said in a statement.
"We have direct ties, direct channels of communication with Turkey, as well as through mediators, and we hope that these ties are developed," the commander said.
US congress members called to sanction several Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, including the Popular Mobilization Forces, in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The majority of those treated have been from the Syrian-Druze community, the military said, explaining the IDF's intention to provide ongoing medical assistance to the population.
Only 50 out of 16,000 southern Lebanese homes are being rebuilt • 190 Hezbollah terrorists killed since ceasefire • Group still has thousands of rockets
Assad is gone. Syria is in flux. For Israel, this is a moment not for nostalgia, but for strategic influence and calibrated engagement.
Footage shows the suspect participating in a brutal execution, which included forcing a Jordanian pilot into a cage that was set on fire.
The two sides have held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region.
JPOST Digital Library
