As Israel seeks to reshape the region, the settler movement senses an opportunity to make ‘Greater Israel’ a reality, eyeing land in Syria, Lebanon, and beyond
In a move that sparked international condemnation, a group of Israeli settlers crossed into Syrian territory near the village of Bariqa in Quneitra province on 18 August and attempted to establish a new settlement on Israeli military-controlled land.
“A clean energy revolution is helping to save this planet.” Thus spoke President Barack Obama in 2015.
“The age of fossil fuel is coming to an end. The rise of renewable energy is irreversible.” Thus spoke Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in July of this year.
Despite efforts to integrate diverse rebel factions into a unified military structure, a report notes significant challenges, including defections, tribal conflicts, and difficulties in maintaining regular salary payments.
A recent report has revealed that 22 senior military officials in the New Syrian Army, including key figures such as the Minister of Defense, Deputy Minister of Defense, and Chief of Staff, have backgrounds tied to jihadist organizations, raising significant concerns about the stability of Syria’s new regime and potential security threats to neighboring countries, including Israel.
Syria has reached a significant milestone in its economic recovery with the export of its first crude oil shipment in 14 years. On Monday, 1 September 2025, 600,000 barrels of heavy crude were dispatched from the port of Tartous aboard the tanker Nissos Christiana, as announced by the Syrian Ministry of Energy.
The relationship between Syria and Iraq resists simple classification within conventional models of regional systems, yet it stands as one of the defining features of the Arab Levant’s modern history. This unique and enduring bond cannot be explained solely through the lens of ancient sectarian or theological divisions. To reduce it to historical rivalries—such as those between the Umayyads and Hashemites, or Sunni and Shia factions—is to perpetuate a flawed narrative of perpetual sectarian conflict.
The report (“The EU’s Propaganda Machine: How the EU funds NGOs to promote itself”) shows how the European Commission – the unelected executive branch of the European Union – is using taxpayer money “to promote its political agenda under the guise of advancing ‘EU values’.” In short, the EU is funding NGOs and think-tanks to spread its own propaganda.
Interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa pledged to dismantle his country’s massive illegal drug trade when he took power in December, but the dangerous amphetamine captagon is still flowing.
On September 1, Jordanian security forces announced that they “foiled two large-scale drug-smuggling attempts along the country’s eastern border [with Syria].” In August, Jordanian authorities intercepted at least 10 drug shipments, a significant increase from previous months.
On June 29, 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State in al-Sham (ISIS), was recorded on video speaking at the al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul, Iraq. (“Al-Sham” is the traditional Arabic name for the Levant.) He declared himself to be the caliph or divinely inspired absolute ruler of an Islamic state.
ISIS had risen from the ashes of al-Qa’ida in Iraq, bringing together Syrian jhadists released by Asad’s regime, former members of Saddam Hussein’s army in Iraq, and Sunni tribal fighters from across rural Iraq. In Syria, ISIS joined other jihadist groups in fighting Asad. As its battlefield victories mounted, ISIS broke with al-Qai’da in declaring an Islamic state across eastern Syria and northern Iraq, with al-Raqqa in Syria as its capital.
Ukrainians know how to make their voices heard—and to make their leaders listen. They will never accept capitulation to Russia, whether in the form of the surrender of Ukrainian land or the abandonment of Ukrainian citizens to Russian occupiers. President Volodymyr Zelensky knows this. It is why he avoided making unacceptable concessions to U.S. President Donald Trump in his latest visit to the White House.
More than a half century after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 242—which established the principle by which Israel would give up territory it gained in the war in exchange for peace and security—the Israelis and the Palestinians have made no meaningful, much less lasting, progress on their core differences.
It is time for this to change. What little opportunity still exists for realizing progress toward a durable agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians—one that would serve both parties’ interests—is fast fading. Political and physical barriers to compromise will soon pass a tipping point.