https://sagire.online/topic/syria/ Articles and notes about Syria. en Thu, 05 Nov 2026 03:25:00 -0300 https://sagire.online/wire/43fb7eb5/https://sagire.online/wire/43fb7eb5/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 23:22:00 -0300Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman witnessed the signing of several agreements, including a defense cooperation deal and more than US$ 403 million in loans for Syria’s energy, housing, health and infrastructure sectors. The two countries’ defense ministries signed the agreement on Wednesday, according to the official Saudi agency. The Saudi Fund for Development loans include US$ 100 million to rebuild and equip damaged healthcare facilities, US$ 60 million to repair damaged housing, US$ 105 million to strengthen civil defense, US$ 90 million to rehabilitate the Aleppo thermal power plant and US$ 30 million for drinking water systems in Damascus and Idlib. The defense agreement came days after Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said his government was weighing whether to join a mutual defense pact among Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan.SyriaSaudi ArabiaDefenseThe Gulf https://sagire.online/wire/8a7823ac/https://sagire.online/wire/8a7823ac/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:25:00 -0300Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday with a delegation including the foreign, defense, finance and industry ministers and the head of the General Intelligence Directorate, on his second visit to the kingdom in weeks, after a trip to Riyadh on October 6. He and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman witnessed the signing of agreements covering military cooperation, energy and infrastructure, and the Syrian Foreign Ministry said the defense agreement was the most notable but gave no details. The package included a cooperation agreement between the two countries’ defense ministries. Syria is in negotiations to join the Makkah defense pact, and Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani said at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain that Damascus considers “security in the Gulf as part of its own.”SyriaSaudi ArabiaThe GulfDefense https://sagire.online/wire/d5f368e5/https://sagire.online/wire/d5f368e5/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 10:22:00 -0300Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in Riyadh on an official visit on Wednesday and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Al-Yamamah Palace, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). Ministers and senior officials from both countries attended the meeting. It is al-Sharaa’s sixth visit to Saudi Arabia since taking office in January 2025. The talks addressed bilateral relations and ways to develop and strengthen cooperation between the two countries in various fields.SyriaSaudi ArabiaDiplomacyMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/5a3ba5b9/https://sagire.online/wire/5a3ba5b9/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 05:24:00 -0300A poll by the Doha-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and the Arab Center for Contemporary Syria Studies found that 61 percent of respondents named Israel as the main threat to Syria, against 20 percent who named Iran, 6 percent Turkey and 5 percent the United States; the results were published on Monday. Some 97 percent said Israel threatens the security and stability of the Middle East, up from 78 percent a year earlier. Almost 80 percent oppose recognizing Israel, up from 74 percent in 2025, and 74 percent oppose any agreement that does not return the occupied Golan Heights. On the US-Israel war on Iran, 80 percent said Iranian missile strikes on Israel were justified, and three-quarters said Washington had waged the war on Israel's behalf.SyriaIsraelIranMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/fb583c26/https://sagire.online/wire/fb583c26/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 11:24:00 -0300Syrian authorities said they arrested two members of a Hezbollah cell and seized explosives allegedly intended for use on the Homs refinery, the last facility operational after the civil war. The state agency SANA reported the foiled plot on Sunday, and in early October Damascus had reported sabotage attacks first against an oil pipeline and then a gas one.SyriaHezbollahCritical infrastructure https://sagire.online/wire/d2b87d26/https://sagire.online/wire/d2b87d26/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 07:21:00 -0300Lebanon's Labor Minister Mohammad Haidar, who was appointed by Hezbollah, visited Syria on Monday with three other Lebanese ministers, the first time a member of the group has been formally welcomed in Damascus since the fall of the Assad regime. The delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Mitri, discussed refugee returns, border security, education and bilateral cooperation. Haidar said the trip is ministerial work with no partisan link.LebanonSyriaHezbollahDiplomacy https://sagire.online/wire/13b5c529/https://sagire.online/wire/13b5c529/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 18:22:00 -0300Israeli forces advanced into the village of al-Asbah in rural southern Quneitra with five military vehicles, according to a Syria TV report published by Middle East Eye. According to Sijil, a Syrian initiative tracking Israeli violations in the country, Israeli forces committed seven violations on Monday before the latest incursion, including other incursions, checkpoints and aircraft overflights.IsraelSyriaConflictMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/86cce01e/https://sagire.online/wire/86cce01e/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 07:22:00 -0300Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Saturday, during a session on regional security at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, that Damascus is considering joining the Mecca alliance, a mutual defense pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan. Under the agreement, signed on August 7 in Mecca, an attack on one signatory is treated as an attack on all three, an arrangement similar in principle to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which has 32 member states. Samy Akil, an analyst at Syria Report, told Middle East Eye the talks are at an early stage and that Syria is unlikely to become the pact's fourth member in the near term.SyriaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyPakistanDefenseMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/406c12a8/https://sagire.online/wire/406c12a8/Sun, 01 Nov 2026 16:22:00 -0300Syria's special services said they exposed a terrorist plot against an oil refinery in the city of Homs, according to the TASS news agency. Suicide vests, makeshift explosive devices, electronic equipment for remote detonation and detailed maps of the facility were seized from the detainees.SyriaEnergyCritical infrastructureMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/742ec137/https://sagire.online/wire/742ec137/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 17:22:00 -0300Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on Saturday at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain that discussions are under way to evaluate Syria’s entry into the Mecca alliance, according to Al Jazeera. The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement was signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan in the Saudi city of Mecca in August and states that an attack on one country is to be considered an attack on all three. Arab News also heard from the Syrian foreign minister that Damascus was considering whether to join the defense alliance binding Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.SyriaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyPakistanDiplomacyMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/7471983a/https://sagire.online/wire/7471983a/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 14:23:00 -0300Jordanian border guards stopped 14 armed individuals trying to cross into northern Jordan from Syria, the armed forces said in a statement on Saturday. The group tried to infiltrate on Friday under heavy fire and direct engagement, causing numerous casualties among the armed group, while the remaining members fled back into Syria, according to the armed forces, in a Reuters text republished by Arab News.JordanSyriaConflictMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/4256e85d/https://sagire.online/wire/4256e85d/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 09:22:00 -0300Syria’s Foreign Minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, said on Saturday that Israel had carried out more than 1,000 attacks on his country in less than two years, killing dozens of people, according to Anadolu. His remarks came during a session on regional security at the Manama Dialogue 2026, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). He called for a return to the lines in place before Dec. 8, 2024, and for the implementation of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement.SyriaIsraelMiddle EastConflict https://sagire.online/wire/072345b4/https://sagire.online/wire/072345b4/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 09:22:00 -0300Syria’s Foreign Minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, said on Saturday that Damascus is weighing whether to join the Makkah defense pact, which binds Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, according to Dawn; TRT World also reported his remarks. At the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, he said: “Discussions are currently underway to evaluate Syria’s entry into the Makkah alliance.” The Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, signed on Aug. 7, empowers the three members to consider an armed attack on one of them an attack on all.SyriaMiddle EastDiplomacyDefense https://sagire.online/wire/93055234/https://sagire.online/wire/93055234/Thu, 29 Oct 2026 17:23:00 -0300Syria said on Wednesday that a French jihadist was killed in a shootout with security forces in the country's northwest, the latest violence involving foreign fighters since Syria's new authorities took power, according to The Hindu.SyriaConflictMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/b9c25f7a/https://sagire.online/wire/b9c25f7a/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 04:22:00 -0300Jordan and Syria agreed on Tuesday to set up a joint security committee to investigate Jordanian airstrikes in southern Syria and step up coordination, according to TRT World. Seven people were killed and three injured in Monday’s strikes, according to Al Ekhbariya TV citing Daraa’s health directorate, and Jordan’s army said the targets belonged to groups tied to Friday’s attack on worshippers at a church in Hamoud, in Karak province.JordanSyriaMiddle EastConflict