NEW: A former military barracks on Syria’s coast has become a sanctuary of coexistence. In Tartus, the Solidarity Fields co-op helps displaced families rebuild lives and bridge wartime divisions, reports @natachadanon.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/spotlight/th...

🧵 In the weeks after Assad fell on December 8, 2024, Khalid al-Ahmad* traveled from Raqqa to Damascus for the first time in his life. There, he was caught on video participating in celebrations. When he returned home he was arrested, held for three months without charge. 🔗 bit.ly/3XywyVb

🧵 The first trial of hundreds of suspects accused of involvement in killings on Syria’s Alawite-majority coast began on Tuesday, marking the start of a closely watched and unprecedented accountability process. 🔗 bit.ly/47MsF4P

My piece for @thenewarab.bsky.social on what the PKK withdrawal from Turkey could mean for its presence in Syria and Iraq. www.newarab.com/analysis/wha...

Diminished by drought, the olive harvest is underway in Syria’s Kurdish-majority Afrin. Residents report fewer violations than in years past, but remain wary of the new authorities. ✍️ @natachadanon.bsky.social syriadirect.org/with-olive-h...

Despite Russia's direct role in the Syrian conflict, Damascus and Moscow are seeking renewed ties based on mutual strategic interests in an international context where both have limited if any recognition from the West. My latest for @syriadirect.bsky.social.

In Syria’s Hama province, thousands of displaced Alawites are unable to return to houses and lands now occupied by their former Sunni neighbors, whose own homes were destroyed. With property disputes unresolved and pistachio orchards neglected, social cohesion and the local economy risk collapse.

“You get the sense that they’re just checking boxes,” Rana Ali, a feminist and human rights activist, told me. She was disqualified from running as a parliamentary candidate from her home district of Nabek on unknown grounds.

My latest for @thenewarab.bsky.social on the future of Palestinian factions in exile. As one former leader in Islamic Jihad told me, “resistance must come from within Palestine.”

My latest reporting from the Damascus suburbs of al-Somoriyeh on the controversial eviction of an Alawite slum, which will mark the first real test on property rights for the nascent Syrian administration. ⬇️

My latest for @thenewarab.bsky.social on what the impacts of the latest sectarian violence in Sweida could mean for northeast Syria.

🧵 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

🧵 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

🧵 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

🧵 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

🧵 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

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.

The story of farmers in southwest Syria, swathes of which Israeli forces have seized since the fall of the al-Assad regime, echoes that of Palestinian farmers across the border, as they fight for their lands and their livelihoods. My latest for @newlinesmag.

“The [Aleppo] agreement represents confidence-building between the Autonomous Administration and the government in Damascus,” said Ahmad Araj, the head of a party that is part of the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces. “It will cover all Autonomous Administration areas if it succeeds.”

📸 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. ✍️ @natachadanon.bsky.social bit.ly/3Y43hSM

🧵 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

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.

Syrians in the Druze-majority province 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.

“The National Dialogue should not end today,” Sawsan Abu Zeineddin, executive director of the civil society network Madaniya, said. There should be “should be a dialogue process that extends over a sufficient period of time…to allow broader participation." My latest for @syriadirect.bsky.social.

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

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 issues by Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week.

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

As Syrians flood the streets in celebration of the ceasefire in Gaza, a powerful message is being sent to Israel that it will never be able to divide and conquer the people of the region despite having co-opted their regimes.

While the EU has yet to act, a partial US sanctions waiver offered some reprieve for Syria this month. However, it did not loosen restrictions on the country’s banking sector and private investment, which are critical for economic recovery and large-scale reconstruction. My latest: bit.ly/3WglETO

“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 to demand the fall of any regime or dictatorship,” one activist told me. “The breath of the hirak is still present,” another activist told me.

"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 worker told me. My latest for @syriadirect.bsky.social.

🧵As HTS promises a new approach, Christians in Aleppo city are weighing assurances of protection against difficult memories. When opposition forces took control over the weekend, some fled, fearing the worst from Islamist factions. 🔗 bit.ly/4gca57K