🔥The 9th Round of Easy Loan, Earn $40 Reward is in progress❗️ ⏰ Promotion Period: January 15th - Feburary 15th, 2025 👉 Register now and check more details at gate.io/campaigns/358

Formerly an Al-Qaeda affiliate, has Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham truly changed vis-à-vis religious minorities? My latest for Syria Direct

“People are joyous, their eyes are dancing that they finished from this tyrannical regime. God willing, the future will be better and more beautiful. This alone is enough for us to work,” one Syrian relief organization told me. My latest for Syria Direct.

“We didn’t stand in the squares so that we could get rid of one dictator and replace him with another. We might return to the squares,” one activist told me.  “The breath of the hirak is still present,” another activist told me.  My latest: bit.ly/40g1yLO

Syria has been under international sanctions for 45 years. While the Assad regime is gone, sanctions on the country remain. Should they be fully lifted? Mohamad Katoub, Karam Shaar كرم شعّار, and anwar al bunni أنور البني weigh in on the issue. My latest: bit.ly/3WglETO

If HTS can prove itself to be a partner in the fight against ISIS, as recent intelligence sharing from the US has indicated, there may be American pressure on the SDF - whose raison d'être in Washington's eyes is to be a bulwark against ISIS - to negotiate with Damascus.

Among those most impacted by the #USAID funding freeze are organizations working on media, transitional justice and human rights, as they don't qualify for the humanitarian waiver. "The path for justice is very long and shouldn't be stopped at any point," Caesar Families Association told me.

Syrians are forced to weigh between two difficult futures in Syria and Lebanon. Tens of thousands of Syrians who fled during Israel’s offensive are returning to Lebanon, alongside new arrivals, despite a growing crackdown on refugees. My latest: bit.ly/4hT6VqD

🧵 Syrian women who participated in this week’s national dialogue conference in Damascus reflect on the event, its outcomes and women’s participation. 🔗 bit.ly/4gZXd4f

Syrians in the Druze-majority city of Suwayda gather in Dignity Square to denounce the killing of civilians on the Syrian coast over the weekend as former regime elements clashed with government security forces,

Syrians in the Druze-majority province of Suwayda chant in support of Syrian unity following the conclusion of an agreement between Damascus and the US-backed SDF to integrate forces.

🧵 As Tel Aviv projects itself as the protector of Syria’s Druze, hate speech against the community has propagated, despite the stance of many Druze activists against Israel. 🔗 bit.ly/4ipdCRz

📸 Syrian-Palestinians gathered in Yarmouk to commemorate the revolution and regime siege of the camp on Friday, then joined a demonstration in Umayyad Square to denounce Israel’s incursion and attacks in southern Syria. ✍️ Natacha Danon bit.ly/3Y43hSM

"The [Aleppo] agreement represents confidence-building," said Ahmad Araj, the head of the Syrian National Democratic Alliance party, which is part of the political wing of the SDF. "It will cover all Autonomous Administration areas if it succeeds."

My latest reporting from Homs, which has become a hotspot for extrajudicial killings of former members of the regime and sectarian violence against civilians, with the participation of the state security services, according to eyewitnesses.

🧵 With dwindling aid and delays in registering informally with the UNHCR, tens of thousands of newly arrived Syrian refugees in Lebanon are largely on their own. 🔗 bit.ly/4kXhv0V

🧵 President Donald Trump signed an executive order lifting most US sanctions on Syria this week, cementing a sea change in his country’s approach to Damascus. What explains the shift, and what could future US policy look like? 🔗bit.ly/4kngqP0

🧵 In the ruins of what was once widely regarded as the capital of the Palestinian diaspora, returnees to Syria’s Yarmouk camp are doing what they can to rebuild their lives. 🔗 bit.ly/409e13q

🧵 As Europe navigates Syria’s post-Assad reality, will it walk in the US’ footsteps or chart a course of its own? 🔗 bit.ly/3GVV25W

🧵 Activists in Suwayda who were once open to the Damascus government weigh in on how their views have changed following a wave of sectarian violence—and whether any path forward remains. 🔗 bit.ly/4fb5NhB