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  • Syria

Syrians celebrate in Raqqa on 19 January 2026, after Syria and the SDF struck a wide-ranging deal to bring Kurdish civilian and military authorities under central government control on Sunday. REUTERS / Karam al-Masri

Why Syrian army gains against the SDF unnerve Israel

Israeli media have painted the "defeat of the Kurds" as a win for Türkiye, while Israel's military worries that this may carry negative implications for its presence in the Golan

Michael Harari 21 January 2026
A man holds a Syrian flag as a group of civilians smash a statue of a Syrian Democratic Forces fighter in the city of Tabqa after the Syrian army took control of it, in Tabqa, Syria, on 18 January 2026. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri

How the SDF's hand was twisted into Syria integration

A decisive Syrian military campaign, coupled with diplomatic pressure from Türkiye, the US, and Israel, has forced the SDF into a far-reaching integration deal with Damascus

Omer Onhon 19 January 2026
Government forces patrol the Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood after taking control of the area, following the collapse of an agreement between the Syrian government and the SDF, in Aleppo, Syria, on 10 January 2026. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

What next for Syria after tenuous Aleppo ceasefire?

It remains unclear if Damascus's move to kick the Kurds out of Aleppo will pressure the SDF to implement the 10 March deal to integrate its forces into the Syrian army or harden its resolve to resist

Haid Haid 10 January 2026
Buses wait to enter the Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood to evacuate US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) force fighters from two districts of the city of Aleppo, northern Syria, on 9 January 2026. Bakr ALkasem / AFP

Clashes in Aleppo may be the creaking before the earthquake

If fighting spreads beyond the predominantly Kurdish neighbourhoods of Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud and beyond Aleppo, there is a real risk that Syria could be dragged into a new civil war

Omer Onhon 10 January 2026
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner deliver remarks upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine during the Coalition of the Willing summit in Paris on 6 January 2026. LUDOVIC MARIN /AFP

Israel-Syria security talks make headway in Paris

The US has made it clear that securing a deal is a key priority, and it will be looking to pick up the pace of talks ahead of Israeli elections later this year

Michael Harari 08 January 2026
Men recover at the Karm al-Louz Hospital following an explosion at the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque, in Homs, on 26 December 2025. OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP

Alawite protests return. But this time, they turn deadly.

The latest demonstrations, killing four and injuring 100, reveal the limits of containment, the cost of postponing accountability, and the risks of trading short-term calm for durable legitimacy

Haid Haid 03 January 2026
People stand outside the Justice Palace after first trial of more than a dozen suspects linked to massacres that left hundreds dead in Syria's Alawite coastal heartland earlier this year, in Aleppo on 18 November 2025. BAKR ALKASEM / AFP

Fresh UK sanctions on Syria send a message

London is making it clear that it expects more than just symbolic gestures from Damascus when it comes to holding security forces accountable for atrocities

Haid Haid 27 December 2025
A picture of Farid al-Madhan, known as "Caesar," wearing a blue robe in the US Congress.
 Reuters/ Al Majalla

Syria's new post-sanctions test

Damascus finally gets breathing room after the US repealed its draconian Caesar sanctions, but it can't exhale just yet. Al Majalla explains why.

Haid Haid 22 December 2025
US forces patrol oil fields near Syria's north-east in the Qahtaniyah countryside of Hasakeh province on 3 September 2024. Delil Souleiman/AFP

The Palmyra attack and what it means for US-Syria cooperation

An Islamic State operative infiltrated Syria's security set-up and waited until he was with American soldiers. The assault requires an urgent reassessment of personnel and recruitment in Damascus.

Subhi Franjieh 16 December 2025
Israeli Paratroopers' Brigade members operate in a location given as the
Syrian border, in this handout picture
released on 13 December 2024. Israel Defence Forces

When it comes to Syria, Israel prefers coercion to conversation

Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will go off what his opposite number in Damascus does, not what he says. In the meantime, Israeli actions make a genuine peace more difficult.

Michael Horowitz 16 December 2025
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Politics

Trump’s 2026 Iran deal differs from Obama’s 2015 JCPOA

18 June 2026

Although an MOU will be officially signed on 19 June, there are already significant differences a decade later, despite the US aim being largely similar. Could Trump open Iran like Nixon opened China?

Robert Ford
Sara Gironi Carnevale
Science & Technology

A smarter ball, or a safer one? The header dilemma facing world football

11 June 2026

The official World Cup ball showcases the latest advances in football technology, but new research questions whether future designs should prioritise brain safety as well as performance

Marco Mossad
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian holding a memorandum of understanding he and US President Donald Trump signed to end the US-Iran war on 17 June, 2026. IRINN Iranian state television/AFP
Politics

How a US-Iran deal will impact Gulf relations with Tehran

17 June 2026

As a costly war draws to a close, Tehran has the chance to chart a new course in relation to its neighbours, but that requires a change of mindset

Zaid bin Ali al-Fadhil
Stefano Summo
Culture & Social Affairs

World Cup songs: from local themes to global industry

11 June 2026

Football's biggest tournament has come to adopt a single soundtrack every four years to give each offering a distinct identity. Is this genuine culture, or a mass marketing technique?

Najeeb Mubarak
Al Majalla
Politics

How Pakistan quietly brokered the historic US-Iran deal

16 June 2026

Islamabad kept both sides talking even as missiles were being launched. That tenacity looks to have paid dividends in a way that could yet reshape the Middle East's power dynamics.

Kaswar Klasra

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OPINIONS

Can Trump's Iran deal make it over the 60-day line?

Con Coughlin
Con Coughlin

Hormuz opens, but states will still invest in workarounds

Sharif Mohammad

Trump’s deal: repercussions in the Gulf, Iran, and Israel

Al Majalla - London
Al Majalla - London

Trump’s 2026 Iran deal differs from Obama’s 2015 JCPOA

Robert Ford
Robert Ford
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