Syria
Israel-Turkey Tensions Rise Over Syria Military Presence
Israel and Turkey are entering a new confrontation over Syria after Israeli airstrikes hit the Abu al-Duhur military airfield in Idlib overnight on August 17-18, hours after a Turkish military delegation had inspected the base to assess runway repairs, according to ACLED. The Israeli Air Force struck the runway and infrastructure eight times without reported casualties. Syria's foreign ministry called the strikes a violation of its sovereignty, while ACLED's Middle East research manager, Muaz Al Abdullah, said the operation likely aimed "to prevent Turkey from utilizing the airbase to anchor its influence." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said afterward that Israel had already warned Turkey against military activity in Syria: "The message was conveyed, but apparently they didn't hear it, so we made sure they understood it more clearly," he said, according to The Times of Israel. His office separately said Syria had been on the verge of breaching an agreed…
Syria Discloses Nuclear Material And Resets IAEA Ties
Syria has voluntarily disclosed previously undeclared nuclear material from the Assad-era program, seeking to reopen cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Damascus sent the agency an official letter on July 17, 2026, declaring "of our own free will the presence of nuclear materials at an undeclared site within the legacy left by the former regime." IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi confirmed after a two-day Damascus visit that inspectors had accessed the site, calling the find "a few tons of nuclear material that could be put to bad use." Inspectors visited the former Al-Kibar reactor site in Deir Ezzor, destroyed by Israel in a 2007 airstrike after the United States and IAEA assessed that the site was likely a covert nuclear reactor project with suspected North Korean assistance, plus a second undisclosed location. Regional security sources identified the separate storage location as "Site…
Syria Sentences Assad to Death
A Damascus court has sentenced ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, a landmark Syrian conviction against the former ruler since his government collapsed in December 2024. Reuters reported that Assad was convicted on charges including killings, torture and arbitrary arrest during Syria's nearly 14-year war. His brother Maher al-Assad, former commander of the Fourth Armoured Division, was also sentenced to death in absentia. The only senior Assad-era figure sentenced in custody was Atef Najib, Assad's cousin and former head of political security in Deraa province. AP reported that Judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan delivered the verdict in a live televised session, saying Assad had used state agencies to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. Najib's case carries heavy symbolic weight. Deraa was the birthplace of Syria's 2011 uprising, after teenagers accused of writing anti-government graffiti were detained and tortured. Syrian Network for Human Rights trial monitoring links Najib's…
Syrian Court Sentences Assad to Death
A Syrian court sentenced former president Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia on Tuesday after convicting him of premeditated murder, torture and crimes against humanity, marking the first criminal verdict against the former leader since his government collapsed in December 2024. The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus sentenced nine defendants to death in total, including Assad's brother Maher al-Assad in absentia and former Political Security chief Atef Najib, who was tried in person following his capture in early 2025, according to Reuters. Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan said Assad "used state agencies to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity" during a session broadcast live on state television. Najib, Assad's cousin, led the Political Security Branch in Daraa in 2011, when his forces detained and tortured teenage schoolboys for writing anti-government graffiti, an episode widely regarded as the catalyst for the nationwide uprising that evolved into Syria's civil war, according to…
U.S. Reportedly Brokers Syria Nuclear Site Deal
The United States has reportedly brokered separate understandings with Syria and Israel aimed at removing nuclear material from a clandestine site known as "Site 99," Axios reported August 10, citing U.S. and Israeli officials. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Syria's government separately signed an agreement three weeks earlier to carry it out. Site 99 is linked to the Assad government's clandestine Al-Kibar nuclear program, centered on a reactor Israel destroyed in a 2007 airstrike. U.S. officials told Axios the site held yellowcake and other residue from the Al-Kibar program. The material cannot be used directly in a nuclear weapon, but a U.S. official cited by Axios said it could be used in a radiological dispersal device, or "dirty bomb." Israeli officials told Axios they detected activity around the site in recent weeks that raised concern Syria's government might be trying to regain access, possibly with Turkish help. Those…
Syria Takes Control of Russian Military Bases
Syria and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding on August 9 restructuring Moscow's military presence on Syria's Mediterranean coast, according to Syria's Foreign Ministry, carried by state news agency SANA. The deal follows 18 months of negotiation. Damascus takes administrative control of the civilian-use sections of Russia's air base and naval facility. The remaining military infrastructure is redesignated as "joint training and qualification centers" — language that functions as a legal mechanism, stripping Russia's extraterritorial military status without a hard eviction. The transition has a three-month deadline. Russia has not commented, and how much operational access its personnel retains is unspecified. The two sites have anchored Russia's Middle East presence since 2015, doubling as Moscow's logistics bridge to Africa Corps operations in Libya, the Central African Republic, Mali and Sudan. Assad's December 2024 ouster triggered a drawdown, but resupply flights resumed through 2025. Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has visited Putin…
