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Syria

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Politics

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf said the United States would scrap its $10 million bounty on Abu Mohammed al-Golani, Syria's de facto transitional leader and the head of Turkey-backed Syrian militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, after a meeting between the two, the Financial Times reported on Dec. 20. 

Syria: U.S. To Remove $10M Bounty on Syria's Transitional Leader

Military & Security

A delegation of three U.S. diplomats arrived in Syria early Dec. 20 to meet with militia leaders, civil society members and activists for the first time since the collapse of the Assad regime on Dec. 8, the New York Times reported the same day. 

U.S., Syria: First U.S. Diplomatic Delegation Arrives in Syria

Jordan

The Jaber border crossing in Jordan began to receive trucks from Syria for the first time since Dec. 6, Al Jazeera reported on Dec. 18.

Syria, Jordan: Jordan Reopens Key Crossing Into Syria

Israel

Lebanon

In a surprise visit to Syria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Dec. 17 that Israel would remain on Mount Hermon beyond the demilitarized zone that separates Israel's occupied Golan Heights from Syria proper for the immediate future, Reuters reported on Dec. 18.

Israel, Syria, Lebanon: Israel To Stay at Mount Hermon, IDF Ejects Israeli Settlers From Lebanon

Turkey

The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, or SNA, ended a U.S.-mediated truce with Kurdish militias in Syria that had led to the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from Manbij, Al-Monitor reported on Dec. 17.

Turkey, Syria: Turkish Military Prepares for Military Operations in Syria

The Israeli Cabinet approved a 40 million shekel, or $11 million, plan to double the population of the Golan Heights through increased settlement in the disputed region, with the funds going toward education, renewable energy development and an integration program for new residents, Reuters reported Dec. 15. 

Syria, Israel: Israel Approves Plan to Expand Settlements in Disputed Golan Heights

An anti-Hezbollah newspaper in Lebanon, Nidaa al-Watan, said some of Syria's former al Assad government officials, including intelligence officers, fled to Lebanon thanks to support from Hezbollah, The Times of Israel reported on Dec. 13.

Lebanon, Syria: Former al Assad Government Officials Reportedly Flee to Lebanon

Iran

The Israel Defense Forces said it had withdrawn from Lebanon's town of Khiam along the Israel-Lebanon border near the Golan Heights as part of its November ceasefire with Lebanon's Hezbollah, The Times of Israel reported on Dec. 12.

Israel, Lebanon: IDF Withdraws From Town in Southern Lebanon as Ceasefire Broadly Holds

Assessments

Mozambique

France

Anti-riot police officers with dogs walk past burning barricades made by protesters in Maputo, Mozambique, on Nov. 7, 2024. 

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: A New French Government, a Ruling on Mozambique's Disputed Election

Israeli tanks and armored vehicles line up the area outside the Druze village of Majdal Shams on the fence with the buffer zone that separates the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights from the rest of Syria on Dec. 9, 2024.

Israel's efforts to mitigate threats from war-torn Syria will risk triggering domestic and international blowback, and opening the door to a proxy conflict with Turkey.

Israel Expands Its Presence in Post-Assad Syria 

A man carries a Turkish national flag as Turkey-backed Syrian fighters gather along the frontlines opposite Kurdish forces near the town of Dadat in Syria's northern Aleppo province, on July 5, 2022. 

Turkey will seek to exert its influence over Syria's new leaders to prevent Kurdish autonomy, promote Turkish business interests and facilitate the return of refugees.

Turkey Is Poised to Reap the Benefits of a New Order in Syria

Columns

On Geopolitics

United Arab Emirates

Russia

Rebel fighters celebrate in the streets of Homs, Syria, in the early hours of Dec. 8, 2024, after seizing control of the city.

Syria, the geopolitical proving ground for virtually every major regional power, may be hobbled and damaged after 13 years of civil war. But it still gets a vote in its destiny. 

Syria Sets Out Toward a New and Uncertain Future

Ukraine

Russian troops gather around their military vehicles in northeast Syria on Nov. 1, 2019. 

The collapse of Assad's government in Syria is a blow to the Kremlin's influence in the Middle East and its credibility as a security partner, which will further drive Russia to secure a resounding victory in Ukraine.

What Assad's Fall Means for Russia

Iraq

Yemen

An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar al Assad (left) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Dec. 2, 2024. 

U.S.-Iran Relations

With its proxy network weakened, developing nuclear weapons will become a more attractive option for Iran as it tries to rebuild deterrence against the U.S. and Israel.

Assad's Fall in Syria Deals Another Blow to Iran's Axis of Resistance

Snapshots

A military vehicle burns after it was hit by Syrian regime forces Dec. 7 in Syria's Hama governorate. After the regime's fall, competing rebel factions will vie to create a provisional government, a slow process prone to violence as foreign actors try to shape the postwar balance of power.

After the regime's fall, competing rebel factions will vie to create a provisional government, a slow process prone to violence as foreign actors try to shape the postwar balance of power.

Syrian Rebels Pushing to Damascus, Regime Facing Imminent Collapse

Ghana

South Korea

Protesters call for the ouster of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside the National Assembly in Seoul on Dec. 6, 2024.

The Weekly Rundown: An Impeachment Vote in South Korea, Syria's Government Wavers

Rebels patrol the streets of Hama after they captured the central Syrian city on Dec. 6, 2024. 

If and when al Assad's regime collapses, war-torn Syria will fragment into factional territories under a weakened rebel leadership.

What To Watch For as Syria's Government Barrels Toward Collapse

Palestinian Territories

Qatar

A child tapes a stick holding a Hamas flag during a demonstration in support of Palestinian resistance in the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Jan. 12, 2024. 

Israel-Hamas Conflict

Hamas' impending expulsion from Qatar will force the group to either relocate its Politburo or disperse its senior leaders across multiple countries, either of which would carry challenges.

With Its Welcome Worn Out in Qatar, Hamas Seeks a New Home Base

Rebel fighters pose for a picture on a tank on a road leading to Syria's northwestern Idlib province on Nov. 30, 2024. 

The resurgence of Turkish-backed rebels in northern Syria will escalate the 13-year war and could eventually destabilize the al-Assad government by exacerbating its myriad economic and security challenges.

Syria's Frozen Civil War Heats Up As Rebels Seize Aleppo

A general view of Tehran after several explosions amid an Israeli attack were heard there Oct. 26, 2024.

Israel's long-awaited response to Iran's Oct. 1 strike proves restrained, limiting the risk of all-out war.

Israel's Measured Attack on Iran Calibrated to Avoid a Response

<p>Modern Syria is located along the eastern Mediterranean Sea, bordering Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq. Syria&rsquo;s main geographic challenge is uniting its diverse ethnic groups under one domestic power. This is the result of mountainous terrain and ethnic cores that contradict the state&rsquo;s current borders. Syria&rsquo;s population is composed of Sunni Arabs, Alawites, Kurds, Druze, and Christians, among others. The traditional core of Syria&#39;s ruling Alawite minority sits on the northern coastal plain to the west of the Jabal an Nusayriya mountains and to the north of the Anti-Lebanon mountains. Between these two ranges, the Homs Gap has often been the point of invasions from the Mediterranean Sea. The interior region is dominated by the majority Sunni Arab peoples. The Syrian Desert divides this area into two competing regions with strong local identities. The first, Damascus, is the historical capital and the modern seat of power for the Alawites. The other, Aleppo, is situated in the agricultural heartlands of the Aleppo plateau. The Euphrates river divides this plateau from the much more arid Jazirah plateau and allows for irrigation in an otherwise desert region. Syria&rsquo;s modern boundaries fall short of the historical concept of Greater Syria&mdash;spanning from Lebanon to the west and Jordan and Israel to the south. Its current borders were set by the League of Nations&#39; French Mandate, following the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. Lebanon, especially Beirut, has always been important to Syria because of its trade ports and access to Mediterranean markets. Syria&rsquo;s recent civil unrest is the latest example of its geographic challenge. Maintaining unity remains difficult so long as its current boundaries continue to overlap regional and ethnic fault lines.</p>

SITUATION REPORTS

Syria: U.S. To Remove $10M Bounty on Syria's Transitional Leader

U.S., Syria: First U.S. Diplomatic Delegation Arrives in Syria

Syria, Jordan: Jordan Reopens Key Crossing Into Syria

Israel, Syria, Lebanon: Israel To Stay at Mount Hermon, IDF Ejects Israeli Settlers From Lebanon

Turkey, Syria: Turkish Military Prepares for Military Operations in Syria

Syria, Israel: Israel Approves Plan to Expand Settlements in Disputed Golan Heights

Lebanon, Syria: Former al Assad Government Officials Reportedly Flee to Lebanon

Israel, Lebanon: IDF Withdraws From Town in Southern Lebanon as Ceasefire Broadly Holds

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