Under Mr Assad Syria sank from middle-income status to abject poverty. Women saw branches off trees for heating. Children scavenge in dumpsters for food. Men pull copper wire from buildings and telecoms cables to sell. The government is broke and banks are running out of cash. “The economy is tanking,” says one of Mr Sharaa’s advisers.

Syrian authorities launched a security sweep in the city of Latakia on Tuesday, residents said, after two members of their forces were killed in an attack blamed by state media on remnants of Bashar al-Assad's ousted government.

Among the uncertainties facing Syria is the future of U.S. involvement in the country. Since 2014, Washington has backed a de facto autonomous government in northeastern Syria formed principally, but not exclusively,

PHUONG PHAM is Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

When the government of Bashar al-Assad fell in December last year, many Christians were concerned that the new regime, dominated as it is by al-Qaeda offshoot HTS, could spell trouble for Syria’s religious minorities.

Netanyahu’s statements regarding southern Syria reveal an explicit Israeli desire to establish a loyal Syrian Druze ally in order not to lose the support of the Palestinian Druze, who form an essential part of the Israeli border forces.

Hundreds of Syrian politicians and activists gathered Tuesday in Damascus to endorse the opening steps of the country’s political transition, a milestone event after decades of ironfisted one-family rule.

Turkey and Iran have been regional rivals for decades, with Syria as a key battleground. The ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December significantly shifted the power dynamics in the country, strengthening Ankara's position while weakening Iran's influence.