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Al Majalla / AFP / Reuters

Syria defence chief Murhaf Abu Qasra on the plan to oust Assad

Al Majalla speaks to the Major General, who was integral to the operation. In part 1 of a two-part interview, he explains how he helped turn rebel groups into a sophisticated and organised army.

Ibrahim Hamidi 23 January 2025
Ahmed al-Dalati, deputy commander-in-chief of Ahrar al-Sham

Syrian military leader: We decided to overthrow Assad in 2020

In Part 1 of a two-part interview, Ahmed al-Dalati from Syria's Military Operations Command tells Al Majalla how the rebels prepared for the ouster, including building homemade drones

Ibrahim Hamidi 18 January 2025
Khaled Brigade, a part of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), hold a military parade, after Syria's Bashar al-Assad was ousted, in Damascus on 27 December 2024. Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters

Syria's HTS-packed government hints at authoritarian future

The lack of transparency threatens to derail Syria's aspirations for a democratic and inclusive future, transforming what should be a period of hope and progress into one of missed opportunities

Haid Haid 07 January 2025
A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pictured with its frame broken in a Syrian regime's Political Security Branch facility on the outskirts of the central city of Hama following its capture. OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP

Assad's fall: The end of an era

In just over a week, a lightning rebel offensive has collapsed five decades of draconian Assad rule. Al Majalla looks back at the political career of the former Syrian president.

Sami Moubayed 08 December 2024
A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is pictured with its frame broken in a Syrian regime's Political Security Branch facility on the outskirts of the central city of Hama following its capture. OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP

Why did Assad fall so easily?

After over two decades of rule, following three decades of his father Hafez al-Assad's rule, Bashar has fled following a lightning rebel offensive that swept the country

Omer Onhon 07 December 2024
An HTS fighter mans a position in the eastern outskirts of the town of Atarib, in Syria's northern province of Aleppo, on November 27, 2024, as smoke rises in the distance after clashes with the Syrian army. Abdulaziz KETAZ / AFP

As Lebanon's battlefield closes, Syria's reignites

A surprise offensive by the Turkish-backed HTS came after Israel warned Damascus it would pay a 'heavy price' if it keeps arming Hezbollah. How might Syria's stakeholders respond? Al Majalla explains.

Ibrahim Hamidi 30 November 2024
A Syrian policeman patrols the ancient oasis city of Palmyra in March. Many Syrian antiquities have been looted and smuggled out of the country during the past three years of civil war/ Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images

Antiquities Smuggling: New Source of Funding for Syrian Militias

Qamishli- Iran’s military influence in Syria has moved through different forms and levels since the beginning of Tehran’s intervention in the Syrian crisis years ago to support Syrian President…

Jiwan Soz 14 January 2022
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Politics

Red Sea defence alliance: opportunities and challenges

08 August 2026

Does the declaration recently signed in Riyadh indicate a gradual transition towards a regional security architecture that will assume responsibilities long borne by external naval powers?

Amgad Fareid Eltayeb
The general manager of the Ras al-Khair water desalination plant inspects drinking water from a tap at the facility in eastern Saudi Arabia on 30 March 2023. FAYEZ NURELDINE / AFP
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The Gulf’s race for water security

10 August 2026

Desalination plants and strategic reservoirs are becoming sovereign assets, but this also makes them vulnerable to attack

Turki Harbi
Opinion

What the Makkah Agreement means for Syria

09 August 2026

The new military pact among Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Türkiye could potentially create a regional environment favourable to Damascus

Ibrahim Hamidi
Michigan Democratic Senate primary winner Abdul El-Sayed arrives at a press conference in front of the Spirit of Detroit statue on 5 August 2026, in Detroit, Michigan. Finn Gomez/AFP
Profiles

Abdul El-Sayed: the progressive Michigander who beat the pro-Israel lobby

07 August 2026

Come November, the Egyptian-American epidemiologist could become the first Muslim senator in US history, despite $70mn spent to defeat him in the Democratic primary

Tarek Rashed
Migrants walk towards the Fnideq region in northern Morocco after leaving Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta following an attempted crossing at the Bab Sebta border crossing, on the outskirts of Fnideq, on 1 August 2026. Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP
Culture & Social Affairs

The Ceuta tragedy: illusory homelands and unattainable paradises

05 August 2026

Where social media offers magic solutions, the real world delivers slammed doors

Samer Abou Hawwach

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OPINIONS

Assad sentenced to death in absentia

Fares Garabet
Fares Garabet

Makkah diplomacy and the New Middle East

Zaid bin Ali al-Fadhil
Zaid bin Ali al-Fadhil

Why clashes in Ethiopia’s Tigray region are ominous

Amr Emam
Amr Emam

Jay Clayton: the new US Director of National Intelligence

Stefanie Butendieck Hijerra
Stefanie Butendieck Hijerra
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