Syrian civil war#Effects on Lebanon

{{For timeline|Timeline of the Syrian civil war}}

{{main|Arab Spring|Syrian revolution}}

File:Syrian Civil War map (March 15 2013).svg

File:Syrian civil war 01 08 2016.png

File:Syrian Civil War map (November 24, 2023).svg

File:Syrian Civil War map (ISW-CTP).svg

{{For-text|a chronological guide|January–April 2011, May–August 2011, September–December 2011 and January–April 2012 timelines}}

{{further|Syrian revolution|Early insurgency phase of the Syrian civil war|Kofi Annan Syrian peace plan}}

In March 2011, popular discontent with President Bashar al-Assad's Ba'athist government led to large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring protests in the region.{{cite journal |last1=Kassam |first1=Kamal |last2=Becker |first2=Maria |date=16 May 2023 |title=Syrians of today, Germans of tomorrow: the effect of initial placement on the political interest of Syrian refugees in Germany |journal=Frontiers in Political Science |volume=5 |pages=3 |doi=10.3389/fpos.2023.1100446 |doi-access=free|issn=2673-3145 }}{{cite news |date=11 March 2016 |title=Syria: The story of the conflict |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26116868 |url-status=live |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622052951/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26116868 |archive-date=22 June 2018}} Numerous protests were violently suppressed by security forces in deadly crackdowns ordered by Assad, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and detentions, many of whom were civilians. The Syrian revolution transformed into an insurgency with the formation of resistance militias across the country, developing into a full civil war by 2012.{{efn|Sources:

• {{cite journal |last1=Kassam |first1=Kamal |last2=Becker |first2=Maria |date=16 May 2023 |title=Syrians of today, Germans of tomorrow: the effect of initial placement on the political interest of Syrian refugees in Germany |journal=Frontiers in Political Science |volume=5 |pages=3 |doi=10.3389/fpos.2023.1100446 |doi-access=free |issn=2673-3145}}
• {{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26116868 |title=Syria: The story of the conflict |date=11 March 2016 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622052951/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26116868 |archive-date=22 June 2018 |url-status=live}}
• {{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/world/middleeast/26syria.html|title=Syrian Troops Open Fire on Protestors in Several Cities|date=25 March 2011|work=The New York Times|access-date=23 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621011638/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/world/middleeast/26syria.html|archive-date=21 June 2018|url-status=live}}
• {{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-12749674|title=Mid-East unrest: Syrian protests in Damascus and Aleppo|date=15 March 2011|publisher=BBC News|access-date=15 March 2013|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721134738/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-12749674|archive-date=21 July 2018|url-status=live}}}}

The war has been fought by several factions. From 2011 to December 2024, the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, alongside its domestic and foreign allies, represented the Syrian Arab Republic and Assad government. Alternative governments rose in opposition to Assad's rule, including the Syrian Interim Government, a big-tent alliance of pro-democratic, nationalist opposition groups whose military forces consisted of the Syrian National Army (SNA) and allied Free Syrian militias. Another is the Syrian Salvation Government, whose armed forces were represented by a coalition of Sunni militias led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Independent of them is the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava, whose military force is the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a multi-ethnic, Arab-majority force led by the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG). Other competing factions include jihadist organizations such as al-Qaeda's Syrian branch Hurras al-Din (the successor of Al-Nusra Front) and the Islamic State (IS).

The civil war has also served as a proxy war{{cite web|title=Iran and Saudi Arabia's cold war is making the Middle East even more dangerous|url=https://www.vox.com/2015/3/30/8314513/saudi-arabia-iran|website=Vox|access-date=2015-09-28|date=2015-03-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705182249/https://www.vox.com/2015/3/30/8314513/saudi-arabia-iran|archive-date=5 July 2017|url-status=live}} as a number of foreign countries–including Turkey, Iran, Russia and the United States–have been directly involved in the conflict, providing support to opposing factions. Iran, Russia and Hezbollah supported Assad's government militarily, with Iran intervening in 2013 and Russia conducting airstrikes and ground operations in the country beginning in September 2015. In 2014, the US-led international coalition officially began conducting air and ground operations–primarily against the Islamic State, al-Qaeda elements such as Hurras al-Din and the Khorasan group and occasionally against pro-Assad forces–and has been militarily and logistically supporting factions such as the Syrian Free Army and the SDF. Turkish forces occupied parts of northern Syria and have fought the SDF, Assad government and Islamic State alike while actively supporting the SNA. Between 2011 and 2017, fighting from the Syrian civil war spilled over into Lebanon as opponents and supporters of the Syrian government traveled to Lebanon to fight and attack each other on Lebanese soil. While officially neutral, Israel exchanged border fire and conducted repeated strikes against Hezbollah and Iranian elements inside Syria, whose presence in the country it viewed as a security threat.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria/u-s-russian-ceasefire-takes-effect-in-southwest-syria-idUSKBN19U08D|title=U.S.-Russian ceasefire deal holding in southwest Syria|date=9 July 2017|publisher=Reuters|access-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921113246/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria/u-s-russian-ceasefire-takes-effect-in-southwest-syria-idUSKBN19U08D|archive-date=21 September 2018|url-status=live}}[https://www.timesofisrael.com/death-toll-in-alleged-israeli-strikes-near-damascus-up-to-23-fighters-monitor/ Death toll in alleged Israeli strikes near Damascus up to 23 fighters — monitor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207133645/https://www.timesofisrael.com/death-toll-in-alleged-israeli-strikes-near-damascus-up-to-23-fighters-monitor/ |date=7 February 2020 }}, Times of Israel

Violence in the war peaked during 2012–2017 amid rebel and government offensives and sectarian and Islamist violence.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mei.edu/publications/2021-will-be-defining-year-syria|title=2021 will be a defining year for Syria|website=Middle East Institute|access-date=23 February 2022|archive-date=17 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117184255/https://www.mei.edu/publications/2021-will-be-defining-year-syria|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.rescue.org/article/crisis-syria-economic-crisis-compounds-decade-war|title=Crisis in Syria: Economic crisis compounds a decade of war|date=31 January 2022|website=International Rescue Committee (IRC)|access-date=23 February 2022|archive-date=14 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314175139/https://www.rescue.org/article/crisis-syria-economic-crisis-compounds-decade-war|url-status=live}} International organizations had accused virtually all sides involved—the Assad government, the Islamic State, opposition groups, Iran, Russia,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/25/russia-accused-war-crimes-syria-un-security-council-aleppo|title=Russia accused of war crimes in Syria at UN security council session|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=18 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401192517/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/25/russia-accused-war-crimes-syria-un-security-council-aleppo|archive-date=1 April 2019|url-status=live}} Turkey{{cite web |title=Damning evidence of war crimes by Turkish forces and allies in Syria |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/10/syria-damning-evidence-of-war-crimes-and-other-violations-by-turkish-forces-and-their-allies/ |publisher=Amnesty International |date=18 October 2019 |access-date=9 February 2020 |archive-date=2 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202081923/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/10/syria-damning-evidence-of-war-crimes-and-other-violations-by-turkish-forces-and-their-allies/ |url-status=live }} and the US-led coalition{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/05/middleeast/us-led-coalition-raqqa-war-crimes-intl/index.html |title=US-led strikes on Raqqa may amount to war crimes, Amnesty says |first1=Angela |last1=Dewan |first2=Hillary |last2=McGann |date=5 June 2018 |publisher=CNN |access-date=5 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180605205903/https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/05/middleeast/us-led-coalition-raqqa-war-crimes-intl/index.html |archive-date=5 June 2018 |url-status=live}}—of severe human rights violations and massacres.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/15/world/middleeast/syria-bashar-al-assad-evidence.html |title=As Atrocities Mount in Syria, Justice Seems Out of Reach |first1=Anne |last1=Barnard |first2=Ben |last2=Hubbard |first3=Ian |last3=Fisher |date=15 April 2017 |work=The New York Times |access-date=18 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517192038/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/15/world/middleeast/syria-bashar-al-assad-evidence.html |archive-date=17 May 2017 |url-status=live}} The conflict had caused a major refugee crisis, with millions of people fleeing to neighboring countries such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan;{{cite web|title=Syrian refugees in Jordan: A decade and counting |publisher=Brookings Institution |date=27 January 2022 |url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2022/01/27/syrian-refugees-in-jordan-a-decade-and-counting/ |first=Omer |last=Karasapan}}{{cite news |last1=Todd |first1=Zoe |title=By the Numbers: Syrian Refugees Around the World |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/numbers-syrian-refugees-around-world/ |access-date=30 April 2023 |work=Frontline |publisher=Public Broadcasting Service |date=19 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191120012034/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/numbers-syrian-refugees-around-world/#comments |archive-date=20 November 2019 |language=English}} however, a sizable minority also sought refuge in countries outside of the Middle East, with Germany alone accepting over half a million Syrians since 2011. Since 2011 a number of peace initiatives had been launched, including the March 2017 Geneva peace talks on Syria led by the United Nations, but fighting continued.{{Cite journal |last=Lundgren |first=Magnus |year=2016 |title=Mediation in Syria: Initiatives, strategies, and obstacles, 2011–2016 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303312425 |journal=Contemporary Security Policy |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=283–298 |doi=10.1080/13523260.2016.1192377 |s2cid=156447200 |access-date=20 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202000757/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303312425_Mediation_in_Syria_Initiatives_strategies_and_obstacles_2011-2016 |archive-date=2 February 2017 |url-status=live}}

;Escalation (2012–2013)

{{For-text|a chronological guide|May–August 2012, September–December 2012, January–April 2013 and May–December 2013 timelines}}

{{further|2012–2013 escalation of the Syrian civil war}}

;Rise of the Islamist groups (January–August 2014)

{{For-text|a chronological guide|January–July 2014 timeline}}

{{further|Inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian civil war}}

;US intervention (September 2014 – August 2015)

{{For-text|a chronological guide|August–December 2014 and January–July 2015 timelines}}

{{further|US intervention in the Syrian civil war|2015 Southern Syria offensive|Northwestern Syria offensive (April–June 2015)|Battle of Idlib (2015)|Palmyra offensive (May 2015)|Palmyra offensive (July–August 2015)|Battle of al-Hasakah (2015)}}

;Russian intervention; first partial ceasefire (September 2015 – August 2016)

{{For-text|a chronological guide|August–December 2015 and January–April 2016 and May–August 2016 timelines}}

{{further|Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war}}

;Aleppo recaptured; Russian/Iranian/Turkish-backed ceasefire (September 2016 – April 2017)

{{For-text|a chronological guide|September–December 2016 and January–April 2017 timeline}}

{{further|Aleppo offensive (November–December 2016)}}

;Syrian-American conflict; de-escalation zones (April–August 2017)

{{For-text|a chronological guide|May–August 2017 timeline}}

{{further|Khan Shaykhun chemical attack|2017 Shayrat missile strike|Hama offensive (March–April 2017)}}

;ISIL siege of Deir ez-Zor broken; CIA program halted; Russian forces permanent (September–December 2017)

{{For-text|a chronological guide|September–December 2017 timeline}}

{{further|Deir ez-Zor offensive (September–November 2017)|Siege of Deir ez-Zor (2014–2017)}}

;Army advance in Hama province and Ghouta; Turkish intervention in Afrin (January–March 2018)

{{For-text|a chronological guide|January–April 2018 timeline}}

{{further|Northwestern Syria campaign (October 2017 – February 2018)|Operation Olive Branch|Rif Dimashq offensive (February–April 2018)|February 2018 Israel–Syria incident}}

;Douma chemical attack; US-led missile strikes; southern Syria offensive (April–August 2018)

{{For-text|a chronological guide|May–August 2018 timeline}}

{{further|Douma chemical attack|Operation House of Cards|Syria missile strikes (September 2018)}}

;Idlib demilitarization; Partial US withdrawal; Iraq strikes ISIL targets (September–December 2018)

{{For-text|a chronological guide|September–December 2018 timeline}}

{{further|Idlib demilitarization (2018–2019)}}

;ISIL attacks continue; US states conditions of withdrawal; fifth inter-rebel conflict (January–April 2019)

{{For-text|a chronological guide|January–April 2019 timeline}}

{{further|National Front for Liberation–Tahrir al-Sham conflict}}

;New outbreaks of civil war; northwestern offensive; northern buffer zone established (May–August 2019)

{{For-text|a chronological guide|May–August 2019 timeline}}

{{further|Northwestern Syria offensive (April–August 2019)}}

;US forces withdraw from buffer zone; Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria (September–December 2019)

{{For-text|a chronological guide|September–December 2019 timeline}}

{{further|2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria}}

In October 2019, Kurdish leaders of the AANES announced they had reached a major deal with the Assad government, allowing for Syrian Army forces to enter Kurdish-held towns along the Syria–Turkey border. The deal was part of an effort to resist Turkey's cross-border incursion into AANES territory after US forces withdrew from the area after the collapse of the Northern Syria Buffer Zone.{{cite news |title=Syria's Kurds forge 'costly deal' with al-Assad as US pulls out |first=Arwa |last=Ibrahim |date=15 October 2019 |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/15/syrias-kurds-forge-costly-deal-with-al-assad-as-us-pulls-out |work=Al Jazeera English |access-date=27 October 2024 |archive-date=26 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240926193311/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/15/syrias-kurds-forge-costly-deal-with-al-assad-as-us-pulls-out |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Kurdish forces backed by US strike deal with Syria's Assad, in major shift in 8-year war |first1=Helen |last1=Regan |first2=Eliza |last2=Mackintosh |date=14 October 2019 |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/14/middleeast/syria-turkey-kurds-civilians-isis-intl-hnk/index.html |work=CNN |access-date=27 October 2024 |archive-date=6 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241206224459/https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/14/middleeast/syria-turkey-kurds-civilians-isis-intl-hnk/index.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Turkey-Syria offensive: Kurds reach deal with Damascus to stave off assault |first=Bethan |last=McKernan |date=14 October 2019 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/13/kurds-reach-deal-with-damascus-in-face-of-turkish-offensive |work=The Guardian |access-date=27 October 2024}} In November 2019, Russia, Turkey and the Assad government established a new buffer zone in northern Syria that deescalated the Kurdish-Turkish clashes.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/22/turkey-and-russia-agree-deal-over-buffer-zone-in-northern-syria|title=Turkey and Russia agree on deal over buffer zone in northern Syria|first1=Bethan|last1=McKernan|first2=Julian|last2=Borger|date=22 October 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=24 October 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214115348/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/22/turkey-and-russia-agree-deal-over-buffer-zone-in-northern-syria|archive-date=14 December 2019|url-status=live}} US-led coalition forces regrouped in eastern Syria in continued support of the SDF against the Islamic State insurgency, amid tensions with local Russian forces and Iranian elements in the region.{{cite news|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/extremism-watch_reports-tensions-grow-between-us-russian-forces-northeast-syria/6182969.html|title=Reports: Tensions Grow Between US, Russian Forces in Northeast Syria|date=21 January 2020|access-date=23 January 2020|work=VOA News|archive-date=23 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200123022003/https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/reports-tensions-grow-between-us-russian-forces-northeast-syria|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/25/iran-syria-drone-attack-517096|work=Politico|title=Iran behind drone attack on US base in Syria, officials say|date=25 October 2021|access-date=11 December 2021}}

By the end of the decade, the war had resulted in an estimated 470,000–610,000 violent deaths, making it the second-deadliest conflict of the 21st century, after the Second Congo War.{{Cite web |last=Ray |first=Michael |title=8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century |url=https://www.britannica.com/list/8-deadliest-wars-of-the-21st-century |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402172230/https://www.britannica.com/list/8-deadliest-wars-of-the-21st-century |archive-date=2 April 2020 |website=Britannica}}

{{For-text|a chronological guide|2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and January–October 2024 timelines}}

{{further|Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019 – March 2020)|Operation Spring Shield|Southern Syria protests (2023–24)}}

Following the March 2020 Idlib ceasefire, frontline fighting between the Syrian government under Assad and opposition groups had mostly subsided. By 2021, the Assad government controlled about two-thirds of the country and was consolidating power.{{Cite news |last=Chulov |first=Martin |date=26 May 2021 |title='Mob boss' Assad's dynasty tightens grip over husk of Syria |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/26/bashar-al-assad-tightens-grip-on-power-as-syria-goes-to-polls |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526075539/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/26/bashar-al-assad-tightens-grip-on-power-as-syria-goes-to-polls |archive-date=26 May 2021}}[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/15/twelve-years-on-from-the-beginning-of-syrias-war Twelve years on from the beginning of Syria's war] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607031459/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/15/twelve-years-on-from-the-beginning-of-syrias-war |date=7 June 2023 }} By Al Jazeera Staff,15 Mar 2023. Although, regular flare-ups occurred among factions in northwestern Syria, and large-scale protests emerged in southern Syria and spread nationwide in response to extensive autocratic policies and the economic situation. The protests were noted at the time as resembling the 2011 revolution that preceded the civil war.[https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/01/1132837 Security Council: 12 years of war, leaves 70 per cent of Syrians needing aid] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320183655/https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/01/1132837 |date=20 March 2023 }}, 25 January 2023, UN official website.{{Cite news |last=Suleiman |first=Ali Haj |date=23 August 2023 |title=Anti-government protests in Syria continue for sixth day |publisher=Al Jazeera |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/25/anti-government-protests-in-syria-continue-for-sixth-day |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230825220621/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/25/anti-government-protests-in-syria-continue-for-sixth-day |archive-date=25 August 2023}}{{Cite news |date=26 August 2023 |title=Anti-government protests shake Syrian provinces amid anger over economy |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/26/anti-government-protests-shake-syrian-provinces-amid-anger-over-economy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826041126/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/26/anti-government-protests-shake-syrian-provinces-amid-anger-over-economy |archive-date=26 August 2023}}{{Cite news |last=Abdulrahim |first=Raja |date=31 August 2023 |title=Rare Protests in Syria Summon Echoes of Arab Spring |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/31/world/middleeast/syria-protests.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230831040419/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/31/world/middleeast/syria-protests.html |archive-date=31 August 2023}}{{Cite news |date=29 August 2023 |title=Syria Protests Spurred by Economic Misery Stir Memories of the 2011 Anti-Government Uprising |work=Asharq al-Awsat |url=https://english.aawsat.com/features/4514386-syria-protests-spurred-economic-misery-stir-memories-2011-anti-government-uprising |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829122111/https://english.aawsat.com/features/4514386-syria-protests-spurred-economic-misery-stir-memories-2011-anti-government-uprising |archive-date=29 August 2023}}

The civil war had largely settled into a stalemate by early 2023. The United States Institute of Peace said:

Twelve years into Syria's devastating civil war, the conflict appears to have settled into a frozen state. Although roughly 30% of the country is controlled by opposition forces, heavy fighting has largely ceased and there is a growing regional trend toward normalizing relations with the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Over the last decade, the conflict erupted into one of the most complicated in the world, with a dizzying array of international and regional powers, opposition groups, proxies, local militias and extremist groups all playing a role. The Syrian population has been brutalized, with nearly a half a million killed, 12 million fleeing their homes to find safety elsewhere, and widespread poverty and hunger. Meanwhile, efforts to broker a political settlement have gone nowhere, leaving the Assad regime firmly in power.{{cite web |title=Syria's stalemate has only benefitted Assad and his backers |first=Mona |last=Yacoubian |date=14 March 2023 |url=https://www.usip.org/publications/2023/03/syrias-stalemate-has-only-benefitted-assad-and-his-backers |publisher=United States Institute of Peace |access-date=27 October 2024 |archive-date=18 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318081024/https://www.usip.org/publications/2023/03/syrias-stalemate-has-only-benefitted-assad-and-his-backers |url-status=live }}

The US Council on Foreign Relations said:

The war whose brutality once dominated headlines has settled into an uncomfortable stalemate. Hopes for regime change have largely died out, peace talks have been fruitless, and some regional governments are reconsidering their opposition to engaging with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. The government has regained control of most of the country, and Assad's hold on power seems secure.{{cite web |title=Syria's civil war: the descent into horror |first=Zachary |last=Laub |date=14 February 2023 |url=https://www.cfr.org/article/syrias-civil-war |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations |access-date=27 October 2024 |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307183412/https://www.cfr.org/article/syrias-civil-war |url-status=live }}

However, major clashes continued between Turkish forces and factions within Syria. In late 2023, Turkish forces continued to attack Kurdish forces in northern Syria.{{cite news |title=Turkey is trying to bomb Rojava out of existence |first=Sarah |last=Glynn |date=9 October 2023 |url=https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2023/10/09/turkey-is-trying-to-bomb-rojava-out-of-existence/ |work=Bella Caledonia |access-date=27 October 2024 |archive-date=7 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207072206/https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2023/10/09/turkey-is-trying-to-bomb-rojava-out-of-existence/ |url-status=live }} Starting on 5 October 2023, the Turkish Armed Forces launched a series of air and ground strikes targeting the Syrian Democratic Forces in northeastern Syria (AANES territory). The airstrikes were launched in response to the 2023 Ankara bombing, which the Turkish government alleged was carried out by attackers originating from northeastern Syria.{{cite news |title=Turkey says bombers came from Syria, eyes cross-border targets |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkey-says-ankara-bomb-attackers-came-syria-2023-10-04/ |access-date=5 October 2023 |publisher=Reuters |date=4 October 2023 |archive-date=4 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004222315/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkey-says-ankara-bomb-attackers-came-syria-2023-10-04/ |url-status=live }}

{{See also|Fall of the Assad regime|Syrian caretaker government|Syrian transitional government|2024 Syrian opposition offensives|Operation Dawn of Freedom}}

{{For-text|a chronological guide|November 2024–present timeline}}

{{further|Southern Syria offensive (2024)|Deir ez-Zor offensive (2024)|Battle of Aleppo (2024)|2024 Hama offensive|2024 Homs offensive|Palmyra offensive (2024)|Fall of Damascus (2024)|2024 Israeli invasion of Syria|Hezbollah–Syria clashes (2024–present)|Western Syria clashes (December 2024–present)|March 2025 Western Syria clashes}}

File:Syrian Civil War (November - December 2024).svg which overthrew Assad's regime in 11 days.]]

On 27 November 2024, a coalition of opposition groups called the Military Operations Command,{{cite news |author1=Eyad Kourdi |author2=Mostafa Salem |author3=Allegra Goodwin |author4=Christian Edwards |author5=Annoa Abekah-Mensah |author6=Lauren Kent |author7=Avery Schmitz |title=Syrian rebels enter Aleppo for first time in eight years during shock offensive |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/29/world/syria-rebels-aleppo-war-intl/index.html |access-date=29 November 2024 |work=CNN |date=29 November 2024 |language=en |archive-date=29 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241129144938/https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/29/world/syria-rebels-aleppo-war-intl/index.html |url-status=live }} led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, launched a major offensive{{Cite news |title=Syrian Rebels' Lightning Offensive Zeroes In on Major City |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/syrian-rebels-advance-on-third-major-city-in-growing-threat-to-assad-bd21f39f |work=The Wall Street Journal |archive-date=18 December 2024 |access-date=18 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241218183954/https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/syrian-rebels-advance-on-third-major-city-in-growing-threat-to-assad-bd21f39f |url-status=live }} against the Syrian Army and other pro-government forces in Aleppo, Idlib, Hama and Homs Governorates.{{Cite web |title=Syrian opposition forces capture Hama in latest blow to al-Assad |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/5/syrian-opposition-fighters-claim-to-have-entered-the-crucial-city-of-hama |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}} This was followed by other rebel offensives from the Southern Operations Room, the SDF and the Syrian Free Army which all began seizing Syrian government territory in the country's south and east.{{Cite web |date=7 December 2024 |title=Syrian insurgents have reached the suburbs of Damascus in swiftly moving offensive |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/syrian-insurgents-suburbs-of-damascus/ |access-date=7 December 2024 |website=CBS News |language=en-US |archive-date=8 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241208020633/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/syrian-insurgents-suburbs-of-damascus/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Syria's US-backed Kurdish forces seize Deir ez-Zor as Assad hangs by thread |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2024/12/syrias-us-backed-kurdish-forces-seize-deir-ez-zor-assad-hangs-thread |access-date=7 December 2024 |website=Al-Monitor |language=en |archive-date=7 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207165106/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2024/12/syrias-us-backed-kurdish-forces-seize-deir-ez-zor-assad-hangs-thread |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |title='Syrian Free Army' take control of Palmyra as regime forces fall back |url=https://www.newarab.com/news/syrian-free-army-take-control-palmyra-regime-withdraws |work=The New Arab |archive-date=19 December 2024 |access-date=18 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241219135228/https://www.newarab.com/news/syrian-free-army-take-control-palmyra-regime-withdraws |url-status=live }}{{cite web|work=CNN|date=27 November 2024|url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/27/middleeast/syria-rebel-attack-aleppo-assad-intl-latam/index.html|title=Syrian rebels launch major attack on regime forces in Aleppo province|first1=Eyad|last1=Kourdi|last2=Edwards|first2=Christian|access-date=27 November 2024|archive-date=29 November 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241129125004/https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/27/middleeast/syria-rebel-attack-aleppo-assad-intl-latam/index.html|url-status=live}} On 29 November, rebel forces entered Aleppo as Syrian Army positions collapsed across the country.{{Cite news |last=Abdulrahim |first=Raja |date=29 November 2024 |title=Syrian Rebels Reach City of Aleppo, in Biggest Advance in Years |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/29/world/middleeast/syria-war-aleppo-rebels-government.html |access-date=29 November 2024 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=1 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241201012813/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/29/world/middleeast/syria-war-aleppo-rebels-government.html |url-status=live }} On 7 December, rebel forces entered Damascus and the next day, on 8 December, Bashar al-Assad was reported to have fled the capital.{{Cite web |date=7 December 2024 |title=Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has left Damascus to an unknown destination, say two senior army officers |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-has-left-damascus-an-unknown-destination-say-2024-12-08/ |website=Reuters |access-date=8 December 2024 |archive-date=8 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241208035340/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-has-left-damascus-an-unknown-destination-say-2024-12-08/ |url-status=live }} The Syrian Army confirmed Assad was no longer in power and had fled the country,{{cite news |last1=Al-Khalidi |first1=Suleiman |last2=Azhari |first2=Timour |title=Syrian rebels topple President Assad, his whereabouts unknown|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syria-rebels-celebrate-captured-homs-set-sights-damascus-2024-12-07/ |publisher=Reuters |date=8 December 2024 |access-date=8 December 2024}}{{cite news |title=What happened in Syria? How did al-Assad fall? |author=Al Jazeera Staff |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/8/what-happened-in-syria-has-al-assad-really-fallen |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=8 December 2024 |access-date=8 December 2024 |archive-date=8 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241208092725/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/8/what-happened-in-syria-has-al-assad-really-fallen |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Assad's Fall: The End of Syria's Brutal Ruling Dynasty |author=Bloomberg News |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-08/where-is-assad-syria-s-leader-flees-damascus-ending-brutal-dynasty |publisher=Bloomberg |date=8 December 2024 |access-date=8 December 2024 |archive-date=9 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241209170042/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-08/where-is-assad-syria-s-leader-flees-damascus-ending-brutal-dynasty |url-status=live }} resulting in the collapse of his regime and ending over 60 years of Ba'athist rule under the Assad dynasty.{{cite news |author=Ju-min Park |author2=Stephen Farrell |author3=Rupam Jain |author4=Marc Jones |author5=Kylie Maclellan |author6=Farouq Suleiman |title=Syria Live: Assad has left Syria, Russia says, as Damascus falls to rebels |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/syria-live-rebels-say-assad-gone-regime-toppled-2024-12-08/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241208090657/https://www.reuters.com/world/syria-live-rebels-say-assad-gone-regime-toppled-2024-12-08/ |archive-date=8 December 2024 |publisher=Reuters |date=8 December 2024 |access-date=8 December 2024}}{{cite news |title=Assad Left Syria and Stepped Down, Russia Says |author=Bloomberg |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2024-12-08/syria-latest?srnd=homepage-europe |publisher=Bloomberg |date=8 December 2024 |access-date=8 December 2024}}{{cite web |title=Syrian rebels claim to have entered Damascus as regime's defenses collapse |url=https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/syria-civil-war-12-07-2024-intl/index.html?t=1733629627267 |access-date=8 December 2024 |website=cnn.com | date=7 December 2024 |publisher=CNN |archive-date=10 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241210204258/https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/syria-civil-war-12-07-2024-intl/index.html?t=1733629627267 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Assad said to flee Damascus for unknown destination |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/assad-said-to-flee-damascus-for-unknown-destination/ |website=www.timesofisrael.com |access-date=8 December 2024 |archive-date=8 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241208092333/https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/assad-said-to-flee-damascus-for-unknown-destination/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=Assad regime collapses as Syrian rebels enter Damascus |url=https://www.axios.com/2024/12/08/syria-damascus-assad-regime-collapse |access-date=8 December 2024 |website=axios.com |date=8 December 2024 |publisher=Axios |archive-date=8 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241208045110/https://www.axios.com/2024/12/08/syria-damascus-assad-regime-collapse |url-status=live }} Assad and his family had fled to Moscow and was granted asylum in Russia.{{cite news |last1=Gebeily |first1=Maya |last2=Azhari |first2=Timour |title=Assad gets asylum in Russia, rebels sweep through Syria |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syria-rebels-celebrate-captured-homs-set-sights-damascus-2024-12-07/ |publisher=Reuters |date=8 December 2024 |access-date=8 December 2024}}{{cite news |title=Assad is in Moscow, Russian state media reports |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cwy8xzxe0w7t?post=asset%3Ab972fb40-dbf3-4cf7-82d5-7ca804314bda#post |publisher=BBC News |date=8 December 2024 |access-date=8 December 2024 |archive-date=10 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241210021701/https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cwy8xzxe0w7t?post=asset:b972fb40-dbf3-4cf7-82d5-7ca804314bda#post |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Syria Latest |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2024-12-08/syria-latest?cursorId=6755E6AC688C0000 |publisher=Bloomberg |date=8 December 2024 |access-date=8 December 2024}}{{cite news |date=8 December 2024 |title=Syria's President Bashar al Assad is in Moscow and has been granted asylum, confirms Russian state media |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/syrias-president-bashar-al-assad-175000548.html |work=Sky News |via=Yahoo News}}

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali recognized the transfer of power to the Syrian Salvation Government, which established a transitional government in Damascus with Mohammed al-Bashir serving as the prime minister.{{cite news |title=Syrian Prime Minister: Ready to Cooperate |url=https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/syria-civil-war-damascus/card/syrian-prime-minister-ready-to-cooperate-gG7okAui3MTS7vJA6oHR |access-date=8 December 2024 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=8 December 2024}} Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Syrian Salvation Government and emir of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, became de facto leader of Syria.{{cite web|title=Abu Mohammad al-Julani: Who is Syria's de facto ruler?|url=https://www.jns.org/abu-mohammad-al-julani-who-is-syrias-de-facto-ruler/|website=Jewish News Syndicate|date=8 December 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241214130930/https://www.jns.org/abu-mohammad-al-julani-who-is-syrias-de-facto-ruler/|archive-date=14 December 2024}}

On 8 December 2024, Israel invaded southern Syria, subsuming the Golan Heights buffer zone and capturing Quneitra, the Syrian portion of Mount Hermon, and surrounding towns and villages, while also carrying out a bombing campaign against Syrian military bases. Israel has maintained a military occupation of the buffer zone.{{cite web | author1=Lyndal Rowlands | author2=Alastair McCready | title=LIVE: Israel bombards Syria as opposition seeks to form a new government | website=Al Jazeera | date=10 December 2024 | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/10/live-israel-bombards-syria-as-opposition-seeks-to-form-new-government?update=3375862 | access-date=10 December 2024 | archive-date=10 December 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241210025842/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/10/live-israel-bombards-syria-as-opposition-seeks-to-form-new-government?update=3375862 | url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Krever |first1=Mick |date=8 December 2024 |title=Watching with trepidation and glee, Netanyahu orders military to seize Syria buffer zone |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/08/middleeast/israel-syria-security-implications-golan-intl/index.html |access-date=8 December 2024 |publisher=CNN}}

At the Syrian Revolution Victory conference held in Damascus on 29 January 2025, the new government appointed al-Sharaa as president of Syria during the transitional phase and announced the dissolution of several armed militias and their integration into the Syrian Army under the Syrian Ministry of Defense. The Turkish-backed SNA and the SDF continued to clash with each other during negotiations to dissolve all non-state armed groups in the country.

The Syrian transitional government faced sectarianism and opposition to its rule from Assad loyalists and former allies. In December 2024, Hezbollah began clashes with forces of the transitional government primarily along the Lebanon–Syria border, and the neo-Ba'athist Syrian Popular Resistance launched an insurgency. Later, some, Syrian Druze formed an armed coalition in Suwayda Governorate in southern Syria to resist the transitional government's authority in the region. In May 2025, Druze leaders agreed to share security responsibilities in Suwayda.{{cite web|url=https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-may-2-2025|author1=Kelly Campa|author2=Andie Parry|title=Iran Update, May 2, 2025|publisher=Institute for the Study of War}}

{{Main|Background and causes of the Syrian revolution|Modern history of Syria|label1=Background and causes of the Syrian revolution}}

{{See also|Ba'athist Syria|Presidency of Hafez al-Assad|Presidency of Bashar al-Assad|Assad family}}

The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party government came to power through a coup d'état in 1963 by overthrowing the Second Syrian Republic. A second coup in 1966 ousted the old Baathist leadership of Michel Aflaq, replacing it with a militaristic, hard-left, pro-Soviet regime led by Salah Jadid, causing a split between the Syrian branch of Ba'ath, which supported Jadid, and the Iraqi branch, which remained loyal to Aflaq. Jadid was in turn removed in November 1970 by General Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite who declared himself President in March 1971.{{cite news |last=Wilson |first=Scott |date=25 April 2011 |title=Syria escalates attacks against demonstrators |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2014875394_syria26.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429193035/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2014875394_syria26.html |archive-date=29 April 2011 |work=The Seattle Times}} This marked the beginning of the domination of personality cults centred around the Assad family that pervaded all aspects of Syrian daily life and was accompanied by a systematic suppression of civil and political freedoms, becoming the central feature of state propaganda. Authority in Ba'athist Syria was monopolised by three power-centres: Alawite loyalist clans, the Ba'ath Party and the Syrian Armed Forces. All three united by their allegiance to the Assad family.{{Cite book |last=Shamaileh |first=Ammar |title=Trust and Terror: Social Capital and the Use of Terrorism as a Tool of Resistance |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-138-20173-6 |location=New York, NY, USA |pages=16 |chapter=2: Trust, Terror and the Arab Spring: Egypt, Libya and Syria}}{{Cite book |author1=Saber Allam |author2=Salah Ashraf |title=Assad's Survival: The Symbol Of Resisting The Arab Spring |publisher=Lamar |year=2019 |isbn=978-977-85412-3-6 |location=Alexandria, Egypt |pages=9 |chapter=Introduction}}{{Cite book |last=Ma'oz |first=Moshe |title=Dictators and Autocrats: Securing Power across Global Politics |publisher=Routledge |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-367-60786-9 |editor-last=Larres |editor-first=Klaus |location=New York, NY |pages=249–263 |chapter=15: The Assad dynasty |doi=10.4324/9781003100508|s2cid=239130832 }}

The Syrian Regional Branch remained the dominant political authority in what had been a one-party state until the first multi-party election to the People's Council of Syria was held in 2012.{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/05/2012524113941282101.html |title=Assad says Syria 'able' to get out of crisis |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=25 May 2012 |access-date=11 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607214248/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/05/2012524113941282101.html |archive-date=7 June 2012 |url-status=live}} On 31 January 1973, Hafez al-Assad implemented a new constitution, leading to a national crisis. The 1973 Constitution entrusted the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party with the distinctive role as the "leader of the state and society", empowering it to mobilise the civilians for party programmes, issue decrees to ascertain their loyalty and supervise all legal trade unions. Ba'athist ideology was imposed upon children as a compulsory part of school curricula as the Armed Forces became highly monitored by the Party. The constitution removed Islam from being recognised as the state religion and stripped existing provisions such as the requirement that the president of Syria be Muslim. These measures caused widespread furor amongst the public, leading to fierce demonstrations in Hama, Homs and Aleppo organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and the ulama. The Assad regime violently crushed the Islamic revolts that occurred during 1976–1982, waged by revolutionaries from the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood.{{Cite news |date=9 July 2012 |title=Profile: Syria's ruling Baath Party |work=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18582755 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331141644/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18582755 |archive-date=31 March 2022}}

The Ba'ath Party carefully constructed Assad as the guiding father figure of the party and modern Syrian nation, advocating the continuation of Assad dynastic rule of Syria. As part of the publicity efforts to brand the nation and Assad family as inseparable, slogans such as "Assad or we burn the country", "Assad or to hell with the country" and "Hafez Assad, forever" became an integral part of the state and party discourse during the 1980s. Eventually the party organisation itself became a rubber stamp and the power structures became deeply dependent on sectarian affiliation to the Assad family and the central role of armed forces needed to crack down on dissent in the society. Critics of the regime have pointed out that deployment of violence is central to the rule of Ba'athist Syria and describe it as "a dictatorship with genocidal tendencies".{{Cite book |author1=Björklund Kmak |author2=Heta Magdalena |title=Refugees and Knowledge Production: Europe's Past and Present |publisher=Routledge |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-367-55206-0 |location=Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon |pages=73–74 |chapter=4: The world as an exiling political structure |doi=10.4324/9781003092421|s2cid=246668129 }} Hafez al-Assad's nearly three-decade rule was marked by its methods, ranging from censorship to violent measures of state terror such as mass murders, forced deportations and brutal practices such as torture, which were unleashed collectively upon the civilian population.{{Cite book |last=Ma'oz |first=Moshe |title=Dictators and Autocrats: Securing Power across Global Politics |publisher=Routledge |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-367-60786-9 |editor-last=Larres |editor-first=Klaus |location=New York, NY |pages=249–250 |chapter=15: The Assad dynasty |doi=10.4324/9781003100508|s2cid=239130832 }} Upon Hafez al-Assad's death in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad succeeded him as the President of Syria.

Bashar's wife Asma, a Sunni Muslim born and educated in Britain, was initially hailed in the Western press as a "rose in the desert".{{cite news |last=Golovnina |first=Maria |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-asma-idUSBRE82I0MB20120319 |title=Asma al Assad, a "desert rose" crushed by Syria's strife |work=Reuters |date=19 March 2012 |access-date=8 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130923084401/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/19/us-syria-asma-idUSBRE82I0MB20120319 |archive-date=23 September 2013 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Khaleeli |first=Homa |date=2012-07-31 |title=Asma al-Assad and that Vogue piece: take two! |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2012/jul/31/asma-alassad-vogue-blame-game |access-date=2025-01-09 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} The couple once raised hopes amongst Syrian intellectuals and outside Western observers, being seen as a path towards implementing economic and political reforms. However, Bashar failed to deliver on promised reforms, instead cracking down on the civil society groups, political reformists and democratic activists that emerged during the Damascus Spring in the 2000s.{{cite news |title=Syrian Protesters Clash With Security Forces |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/02/world/middleeast/02syria.html |date=1 April 2011 |access-date=19 December 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |first=Liam |last=Stack |author2=J. David Goodman |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513035056/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/02/world/middleeast/02syria.html |archive-date=13 May 2013 |url-status=live}} Bashar Al-Assad claims that no 'moderate opposition' to his government exists, and that all opposition forces are Islamists focused on destroying his secular leadership; his view was that terrorist groups operating in Syria are "linked to the agendas of foreign countries".{{cite web |url=https://leakofnations.com/president-bashar-al-assad-interview-with-croatian-newspaper-vecernji-list-syrian-civil-war/ |title=President Bashar al-Assad interview with Croatian newspaper Vecernji List |website=leakofnations.com |access-date=12 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413073030/https://leakofnations.com/president-bashar-al-assad-interview-with-croatian-newspaper-vecernji-list-syrian-civil-war/ |archive-date=13 April 2017 |url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Demographics of Syria}}

The total Syrian population in July 2018 was estimated at 19,454,263 people. By ethnic groups, Syria was approximately Arab 50%, Alawite 15%, Kurd 10%, Levantine 10% and 15% of other ethnic groups (includes Druze, Ismaili, Imami, Assyrian, Turkmen and Armenian). Its religious breakdown was: Muslim 87% (official; includes Sunni 74% and Alawi, Ismaili and Shia 13%), Christian 10% (mainly of Eastern Christian churches{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71432.htm |title=Syria |work=U.S. Department of State |access-date=11 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722104603/https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71432.htm |archive-date=22 July 2019 |url-status=live}}—may now be smaller as a result of Christians fleeing the country), Druze 3% and Jewish (uncounted in the estimate, but with few remaining in Damascus and Aleppo).{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/syria/|title=The World Factbook: Syria|website=CIA Library|access-date=21 December 2018|archive-date=9 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109103654/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/syria/|url-status=live}}

Socioeconomic inequality increased significantly after free market policies were initiated by Hafez al-Assad in his later years, and it accelerated after Bashar al-Assad came to power. With an emphasis on the service sector, these policies benefited a minority of the nation's population, mostly people who had connections with the government, and members of the Sunni merchant class of Damascus and Aleppo. In 2010, Syria's nominal GDP per capita was only $2,834, comparable to sub-Saharan African countries such as Nigeria and far lower than its neighbors such as Lebanon, with an annual growth rate of 3.39%, below most other developing countries.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/syria/gdp-per-capita|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214130246/https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/syria/gdp-per-capita|url-status=dead|title=Syria GDP per Capita [2002 – 2020] [Data & Charts]|archive-date=14 December 2017|website=ceicdata.com|access-date=18 August 2020}}

The country also faced particularly high youth unemployment rates.{{cite web |url=http://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/international/youth-exclusion-in-syria-economic/ |title=Youth Exclusion in Syria: Social, Economic, and Institutional Dimensions |date=11 August 2011 |publisher=Journalist's Resource |access-date=11 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614153453/http://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/international/youth-exclusion-in-syria-economic/ |archive-date=14 June 2012 |url-status=live}} At the start of the war, discontent with the government was strongest in Syria's poor areas, predominantly among conservative Sunnis.{{cite news |title=Rebels in Syria's largest city of Aleppo mostly poor, pious and from rural backgrounds |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/rebels-in-syrias-largest-city-of-aleppo-mostly-poor-pious-and-from-rural-backgrounds/ |access-date=28 January 2013 |publisher=Fox News Channel |agency=Associated Press |date=16 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207232408/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/10/16/rebels-in-syria-largest-city-aleppo-mostly-poor-pious-and-from-rural/ |archive-date=7 December 2012 |url-status=live}} These included cities with high poverty rates, such as Daraa and Homs, and the poorer districts of large cities.

The unrest coincided with the most intense drought ever recorded in Syria, which lasted from 2006 to 2011 and resulted in widespread crop failure, an increase in food prices and a mass migration of farming families to urban centers.Kelley, C. P., Mohtadi, S., Cane, M. A., Seager, R., & Kushnir, Y. (2015). Syria had also received in the same period around 1.5{{spaces}}million refugees from Iraq. By 2011, Syria was facing steep rises in the prices of commodities and a clear deterioration in the national standard of living. This migration strained infrastructure already burdened by the influx of some 1.5{{spaces}}million refugees from the Iraq War.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/science/earth/study-links-syria-conflict-to-drought-caused-by-climate-change.html |title=Researchers Link Syrian Conflict to a Drought Made Worse by Climate Change |last=Fountain |first=Henry |date=2 March 2015 |work=The New York Times |access-date=1 May 2017 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425175902/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/science/earth/study-links-syria-conflict-to-drought-caused-by-climate-change.html |archive-date=25 April 2017 |url-status=live}} The drought has been linked to anthropogenic global warming.{{cite journal |title=Climate change in the Fertile Crescent and implications of the recent Syrian drought |date=17 March 2015 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |doi=10.1073/pnas.1421533112 |last1=Kelley |first1=Colin P. |last2=Mohtadi |first2=Shahrzad |last3=Cane |first3=Mark A. |last4=Seager |first4=Richard |last5=Kushnir |first5=Yochanan |volume=112 |issue=11 |pages=3241–3246 |pmid=25733898 |pmc=4371967 |bibcode=2015PNAS..112.3241K |doi-access=free }}{{cite web |url=https://climateandsecurity.org/2012/02/29/syria-climate-change-drought-and-social-unrest/ |title=Syria: Climate Change, Drought and Social Unrest |date=29 February 2012 |website=The Center for Climate & Security |access-date=1 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414205011/https://climateandsecurity.org/2012/02/29/syria-climate-change-drought-and-social-unrest/ |archive-date=14 April 2017 |url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|last=Gleick|first=Peter H.|date=1 July 2014|title=Water, Drought, Climate Change, and Conflict in Syria|journal=Weather, Climate, and Society|volume=6|issue=3|pages=331–340|doi=10.1175/wcas-d-13-00059.1|s2cid=153715885 }} Subsequent analysis, however, has challenged the narrative of the drought as a major contributor to the start of the war.{{Cite journal |last1=Selby |first1=Jan |last2=Dahi |first2=Omar S. |last3=Fröhlich |first3=Christiane |last4=Hulme |first4=Mike |date=1 September 2017 |title=Climate change and the Syrian civil war revisited |journal=Political Geography |language=en |volume=60 |pages=232–244 |doi=10.1016/j.polgeo.2017.05.007 |s2cid=59482093 |issn=0962-6298|doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal |last1=Eklund |first1=Lina |last2=Theisen |first2=Ole Magnus |last3=Baumann |first3=Matthias |last4=Forø Tollefsen |first4=Andreas |last5=Kuemmerle |first5=Tobias |last6=Østergaard Nielsen |first6=Jonas |date=6 April 2022 |title=Societal drought vulnerability and the Syrian climate-conflict nexus are better explained by agriculture than meteorology |journal=Communications Earth & Environment |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |page=85 |doi=10.1038/s43247-022-00405-w |bibcode=2022ComEE...3...85E |s2cid=247975293 |issn=2662-4435|doi-access=free |hdl=11250/3053767 |hdl-access=free }}{{Cite journal |last=Ide |first=Tobias |date=1 December 2018 |title=Climate War in the Middle East? Drought, the Syrian Civil War and the State of Climate-Conflict Research |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s40641-018-0115-0 |journal=Current Climate Change Reports |language=en |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=347–354 |doi=10.1007/s40641-018-0115-0 |bibcode=2018CCCR....4..347I |s2cid=159017324 |issn=2198-6061}} Adequate water supply continues to be an issue in the ongoing civil war and is frequently the target of military action.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-19533112 |title=Aleppo water supply cut as Syria fighting rages |date=8 September 2012 |work=BBC News |access-date=1 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730114347/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-19533112 |archive-date=30 July 2017 |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Human rights in Syria|Human rights violations during the Syrian civil war}}

The human rights situation in Syria has long been the subject of harsh critique from global organizations.[https://www.hrw.org/world-report-2010 "World Report 2010 Human Rights Watch World Report 2010"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118110333/https://www.hrw.org/world-report-2010 |date=18 November 2016}}, p. 555. The rights of free expression, association and assembly were strictly controlled in Syria even before the uprising.[https://books.google.com/books?id=OZ3a4M_oZccC Human Rights Watch World Report 2005 Events of 2004], Human Rights Watch 2005. {{ISBN|1-56432-331-5}}. The country remained under a state of emergency from 1963 until 2011 and public gatherings of more than five people were banned.{{cite news |title=Syria's Assad vows to lift emergency law by next week |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-idUSTRE72N2MC20110416 |date=16 April 2011 |access-date=1 January 2014 |work=Reuters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102192245/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/16/us-syria-idUSTRE72N2MC20110416 |archive-date=2 January 2014 |url-status=live}} Security forces had sweeping powers of arrest and detention.{{cite web |url=http://report2009.amnesty.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/syria |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120228221417/http://report2009.amnesty.org/en/regions/middle-east-north-africa/syria |archive-date=28 February 2012 |url-status=dead |publisher=Amnesty International |year=2009 |title=Syria |access-date=1 February 2012}} Despite hopes for democratic change with the 2000 Damascus Spring, Bashar al-Assad was widely reported as having failed to implement any improvements. In 2010, he imposed a controversial national ban on female Islamic dress codes (such as face veils) across universities, where reportedly over a thousand primary school teachers that wore the niqab were reassigned to administrative jobs.{{Cite news |last=Mcgregor-Wood |first=Simon |date=20 July 2010 |title=Islamic Face Covering Veil Banned From Syrian Universties(sic) |work=ABC News |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/islamic-face-covering-veil-banned-syrian-universties/story?id=11204788 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221021120604/https://abcnews.go.com/International/islamic-face-covering-veil-banned-syrian-universties/story?id=11204788 |archive-date=21 October 2022}} A Human Rights Watch report issued just before the beginning of the 2011 uprising stated that Assad had failed to substantially improve the state of human rights since taking power.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/16/syrian-human-rights-unchanged-assad |work=The Guardian |first=Ian |last=Black |title=Syrian human rights record unchanged under Assad, report says |date=16 July 2010 |location=London |access-date=13 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813034407/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/16/syrian-human-rights-unchanged-assad |archive-date=13 August 2016 |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Belligerents in the Syrian civil war}}

File:Syrian-War_main_Participants.png

There are numerous factions, both foreign and domestic, involved in the Syrian civil war. These can be divided into four main groups.

• First, Ba'athist Syria led by Bashar al-Assad and backed by his Russian and Iranian allies.
• Second, the Syrian opposition consisting of two alternative governments:
• i) the Syrian Interim Government, a big-tent coalition of democratic, Syrian nationalist and Islamic political groups whose defense forces consist of the Syrian National Army{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-force/syrian-rebels-build-an-army-with-turkish-help-face-challenges-idUSKBN1KX05Y|title=Syrian rebels build an army with Turkish help, face challenges|first=Khalil|last=Ashawi|work=Reuters|date=13 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813014157/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-force/syrian-rebels-build-an-army-with-turkish-help-face-challenges-idUSKBN1KX05Y|archive-date=13 August 2018|url-status=live}} and Free Syrian Army, and
• ii) the Syrian Salvation Government, a Sunni Islamist coalition led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-shock-western-countries-by-supporting-antiassad-jihadists-10242747.html |title=Turkey and Saudi Arabia alarm the West by backing Islamist extremists the Americans had bombed in Syria |first=Kim |last=Sengupta |newspaper=The Independent |date=12 May 2015 |access-date=15 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513214636/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-turkey-and-saudi-arabia-shock-western-countries-by-supporting-antiassad-jihadists-10242747.html |archive-date=13 May 2015 |url-status=live}}
• Third, the Kurdish-dominated Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and its military wing, the Syrian Democratic Forces, supported by the United States, France and other coalition allies.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/trump-kurds-syria-army.html|title=Trump to Arm Syrian Kurds, Even as Turkey Strongly Objects|work=The New York Times|date=9 May 2017|access-date=23 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510000916/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/trump-kurds-syria-army.html|archive-date=10 May 2017|url-status=live}}
• Fourth, the global jihadist camp consisting of al-Qaeda affiliate Guardians of Religion Organisation and its rival Islamic State.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-kills-40-mabuja-village-central-syria-including-women-children/ |title=ISIS reportedly massacres dozens in Syrian village |date=31 March 2015 |work=CBS News |agency=Associated Press |access-date=23 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401134248/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-kills-40-mabuja-village-central-syria-including-women-children/ |archive-date=1 April 2019 |url-status=live}}

The Syrian government, the opposition and the SDF have all received support—militarily, logistically and diplomatically—from foreign countries, leading the conflict to often be described as a proxy war.{{cite news |title=Battle for Aleppo: How Syria Became the New Global War |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/syria-war-became-conflict-between-usa-and-russia-and-iran-a-1115681.html |work=Der Spiegel |date=11 October 2016 |quote=Syria has become a proxy war between the US and Russia |access-date=4 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405173520/http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/syria-war-became-conflict-between-usa-and-russia-and-iran-a-1115681.html |archive-date=5 April 2017 |url-status=live}}
{{cite news |last1=O'Connor |first1=Tom |title=Iran's military leader tells U.S. to get out of Persian Gulf |url=http://www.newsweek.com/iran-military-us-get-out-persian-gulf-577231 |work=Newsweek |date=31 March 2017 |quote=The Gulf Arab faction, especially Saudi Arabia, has been engaged in a proxy war of regional influence with Iran |access-date=4 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405074950/http://www.newsweek.com/iran-military-us-get-out-persian-gulf-577231 |archive-date=5 April 2017 |url-status=live}}

{{Main|Foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war}}

{{see also|Israel and the Syrian civil war}}

File:Syria military involvement.svg

The major parties that supported the Syrian government were Iran,{{cite news |title=Iran Spends Billions to Prop Up Assad |url=http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-06-09/iran-spends-billions-to-prop-up-assad |work=Bloomberg |date=9 June 2015 |access-date=23 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426104705/http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-06-09/iran-spends-billions-to-prop-up-assad |archive-date=26 April 2016 |url-status=live}} RussiaLouisa Loveluck, and Roland Oliphant, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11999694/Russia-transporting-militia-groups-fighting-Islamic-State-to-frontlines-in-Syria.html "Russia transporting militia groups fighting Islamic State to frontlines in Syria"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223184909/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11999694/Russia-transporting-militia-groups-fighting-Islamic-State-to-frontlines-in-Syria.html |date=23 February 2019}}, Telegraph 17 November 2015 and Lebanese militia Hezbollah. Syrian rebel groups received political, logistic and military support from the United States,{{cite news |title=Syrian rebels: US sends more arms against Iran threat |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/syrian-rebels-sends-arms-iran-threat-170531014459877.html |publisher=al-Jazeera |date=31 May 2017 |access-date=23 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224001856/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/05/syrian-rebels-sends-arms-iran-threat-170531014459877.html |archive-date=24 February 2019 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=Donald Trump ends covert CIA aid to Syrian rebels in 'win' for Russia |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/20/donald-trump-ends-us-programme-supporting-syrian-rebels-fighting/ |work=The Independent |date=20 July 2017 |access-date=23 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224001747/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/20/donald-trump-ends-us-programme-supporting-syrian-rebels-fighting/ |archive-date=24 February 2019 |url-status=live}} Turkey,{{cite news |last=Weiss |first=Michael |date=22 May 2012 |title= Syrian rebels say Turkey is arming and training them |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/michaelweiss/100159613/syrian-rebels-say-turkey-is-arming-and-training-them/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305014329/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/michaelweiss/100159613/syrian-rebels-say-turkey-is-arming-and-training-them/ |archive-date= 5 March 2016 |work=The Telegraph |access-date=30 June 2012 |location=London |url-status=dead}} Saudi Arabia,{{cite news |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/syria-rebels-and-tow-missiles-2015-10 |title=Saudi Arabia just replenished Syrian rebels with one of the most effective weapons against the Assad regime |work=Business Insider |access-date=21 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022064328/http://www.businessinsider.com/syria-rebels-and-tow-missiles-2015-10 |archive-date=22 October 2015 |url-status=live}} Qatar,{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86e3f28e-be3a-11e2-bb35-00144feab7de.html |title=Qatar bankrolls Syrian revolt with cash and arms |first1=Roula |last1=Khalaf |author2=Abigail Fielding Smith |name-list-style=amp |newspaper=Financial Times |date=16 May 2013 |access-date=3 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607043508/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/86e3f28e-be3a-11e2-bb35-00144feab7de.html |archive-date=7 June 2013 |url-status=live}}{{subscription required}} Britain, France,{{cite news |last=Memmott |first=Mark |title=As Talks Continue, CIA Gets Some Weapons To Syrian Rebels |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/09/13/222020019/as-talks-continue-cia-gets-some-weapons-to-syrian-rebels |access-date=10 December 2013 |publisher=NPR |date=13 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214043535/http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/09/13/222020019/as-talks-continue-cia-gets-some-weapons-to-syrian-rebels |archive-date=14 December 2013 |url-status=live}} Israel{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-knesset-member-accuses-israel-of-aiding-syrian-rebels-1.5432055|title=Israeli lawmaker accuses Israel of aiding Syrian rebel group formerly known as Nusra Front|newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=3 June 2021|archive-date=5 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210705134839/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-knesset-member-accuses-israel-of-aiding-syrian-rebels-1.5432055|url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=IDF chief finally acknowledges that Israel supplied weapons to Syrian rebels |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-chief-acknowledges-long-claimed-weapons-supply-to-syrian-rebels/ |work=The Times of Israel |date=14 January 2019 |access-date=31 January 2019 |archive-date=22 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522122353/http://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-chief-acknowledges-long-claimed-weapons-supply-to-syrian-rebels/ |url-status=live }} and the Netherlands.{{cite news |title=Dutch govt under fire for Syria opposition support |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/dutch-govt-under-fire-for-syria-opposition-support/ar-BBN9CXc |work=MSN |date=11 September 2018 |access-date=31 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201013142/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/dutch-govt-under-fire-for-syria-opposition-support/ar-BBN9CXc |archive-date=1 February 2019 |url-status=dead}} Under the aegis of operation Timber Sycamore and other clandestine activities, CIA operatives and US special operations troops have trained and armed nearly 10,000 rebel fighters at a cost of $1{{spaces}}billion a year since 2012.{{cite news |title=U.S. has secretly provided arms training to Syria rebels since 2012 |url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/sns-la-fg-cia-syria-20130622-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=21 June 2013 |access-date=3 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122020932/http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/21/world/la-fg-cia-syria-20130622 |archive-date=22 November 2015 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=Secret CIA effort in Syria faces large funding cut |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/lawmakers-move-to-curb-1-billion-cia-program-to-train-syrian-rebels/2015/06/12/b0f45a9e-1114-11e5-adec-e82f8395c032_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=12 June 2015 |access-date=3 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507132500/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/lawmakers-move-to-curb-1-billion-cia-program-to-train-syrian-rebels/2015/06/12/b0f45a9e-1114-11e5-adec-e82f8395c032_story.html |archive-date=7 May 2019 |url-status=live}} Iraq had also been involved in supporting the Syrian government, but mostly against ISIL.{{Cite web|date=16 August 2018|title=Iraq bombs ISIS 'operations room' in Syria|url=https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2018/08/16/Iraq-bombs-ISIS-operations-room-in-Syria.html|access-date=20 July 2020|website=Al Arabiya English|language=en|archive-date=20 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720152608/https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2018/08/16/Iraq-bombs-ISIS-operations-room-in-Syria.html|url-status=live}}

Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militant group, was significantly involved in the Syrian Civil War. Starting from the 2011 Syrian revolution, Hezbollah provided active support to the Ba'athist government forces.{{Cite news |last=Kais |first=Roi |date=8 June 2013 |title=Hezbollah is a 'cancer,' say Arab media |language=en |work=Ynetnews |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4389767,00.html |access-date=21 December 2023 |archive-date=21 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231221134708/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4389767,00.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=15 March 2016 |title=Why has the Syrian war lasted 12 years? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35806229 |access-date=28 May 2024 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB |archive-date=12 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512212403/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35806229 |url-status=live }} By 2012, the group escalated its involvement, deploying troops across Syria.{{Cite web |title=US punishes Hezbollah |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/8/10/us-adds-hezbollah-to-syria-sanctions-list |access-date=21 December 2023 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en |archive-date=4 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004103919/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/08/2012810164625825716.html |url-status=live }} In 2013, Hezbollah publicly acknowledged its presence in Syria, intensifying its ground commitment. This involvement included an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 fighters at any given time, comprising Special Forces, standing forces from all units, part-time fighters and new recruits with accelerated combat training. Hezbollah's presence, supported by Iranian weaponry and training, further complicated the conflict dynamics, drawing Israeli airstrikes against Hezbollah and Iranian targets in Syria.{{Cite web |title=Institute for the Study of War |url=http://dev-isw.bivings.com/ |access-date=21 December 2023 |website=Institute for the Study of War |language=en |archive-date=25 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325065358/https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-24 |url-status=dead }}

{{Main|Spillover of the Syrian civil war}}

{{Further|War in Iraq (2013–2017)}}

In June 2014, members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) crossed the border from Syria into northern Iraq, and took control of large swaths of Iraqi territory as the Iraqi Army abandoned its positions. Fighting between rebels and government forces also spilled over into Lebanon on several occasions. There were repeated incidents of sectarian violence in the North Governorate of Lebanon between supporters and opponents of the Syrian government, as well as armed clashes between Sunnis and Alawites in Tripoli.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/world/middleeast/syrian-war-plays-out-along-a-street-in-lebanon.html |title=Syrian War Plays Out Along a Street in Lebanon |work=The New York Times |date=24 August 2012 |first=Damien |last=Cave |access-date=25 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215044851/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/world/middleeast/syrian-war-plays-out-along-a-street-in-lebanon.html |archive-date=15 February 2017 |url-status=live}}

Starting on 5 June 2014, ISIL seized swathes of territory in Iraq. As of 2014, the Syrian Arab Air Force used airstrikes targeted against ISIL in Raqqa and al-Hasakah in coordination with the Iraqi government.{{cite web |url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Jun-15/260207-syria-pounds-isis-bases-in-coordination-with-iraq.ashx |title=Syria pounds ISIS bases in coordination with Iraq |work=The Daily Star Newspaper – Lebanon |access-date=1 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318032519/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Jun-15/260207-syria-pounds-isis-bases-in-coordination-with-iraq.ashx |archive-date=18 March 2015 |url-status=live}}

{{clear}}

{{See also|List of equipment of the Syrian Army|List of military equipment used by Syrian opposition forces|Improvised artillery in the Syrian civil war}}

File:International Mine Action Center in Syria (Aleppo) 12.jpg found after the battle of Aleppo in 2016]]

File:Syrian Army tanks 1 (Operation Damascus Steel, March 2018).png tank during the 2018 Rif Dimashq offensive]]

{{Main|Use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war|Destruction of Syria's chemical weapons}}

{{See also|Syria and weapons of mass destruction|Syria chemical weapons program}}

Sarin, mustard agent and chlorine gas have been used during the conflict. Numerous casualties led to an international reaction, especially the 2013 Ghouta chemical attack. A UN fact-finding mission was requested to investigate reported chemical weapons attacks. In four cases, UN inspectors confirmed the use of sarin gas.{{cite web|title=Facts About Sarin|url=http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/sarin/basics/facts.asp|publisher=Centers for Disease Control|access-date=7 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030414181911/http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/sarin/basics/facts.asp|archive-date=14 April 2003|url-status=live}} In August 2016, a confidential report by the UN and the OPCW explicitly blamed the Syrian military of Bashar al-Assad for dropping chemical weapons (chlorine bombs) on the towns of Talmenes in April 2014 and Sarmin in March 2015 and ISIL for using sulfur mustard on the town of Marea in August 2015.[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/world/middleeast/syria-used-chlorine-in-bombs-against-civilians-report-says.html Syria Used Chlorine in Bombs Against Civilians, Report Says] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422005553/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/25/world/middleeast/syria-used-chlorine-in-bombs-against-civilians-report-says.html |date=22 April 2017}}, The New York Times, Rick Gladstone, 24 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.

The United States and the European Union have said the Syrian government has conducted several chemical attacks. Following the 2013 Ghouta attacks and international pressure, the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons began. In 2015 the UN mission disclosed previously undeclared traces of sarin compounds at a "military research site".{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11594763/UN-inspectors-find-undeclared-sarin-linked-chemicals-at-Syrian-military-site.html |title=UN inspectors find undeclared sarin-linked chemicals at Syrian military site |work=The Telegraph |date=9 May 2015 |access-date=9 May 2015 |first=Louisa |last=Loveluck |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518135811/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11594763/UN-inspectors-find-undeclared-sarin-linked-chemicals-at-Syrian-military-site.html |archive-date=18 May 2015 |url-status=live}} After the April 2017 Khan Shaykhun chemical attack, the United States launched its first intentional attack against Syrian government forces. An investigation conducted by Tobias Schneider and Theresa Lutkefend of the GPPi research institute documented 336 confirmed attacks involving chemical weapons in Syria between 23 December 2012 and 18 January 2019. The study attributed 98% of the total chemical attacks to the Assad regime. Almost 90% of the attacks occurred after Ghouta chemical attack in August 2013.{{Cite web|author1=Lutkefend Schneider |author2=Theresa Tobias |date=February 2019 |title=Nowhere to Hide: The Logic of Chemical Weapons Use in Syria |url=https://www.gppi.net/media/GPPi_Schneider_Luetkefend_2019_Nowhere_to_Hide_Web.pdf |journal= |pages=1–47 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216060712/https://www.gppi.net/media/GPPi_Schneider_Luetkefend_2019_Nowhere_to_Hide_Web.pdf |archive-date=16 December 2022 |via=GPPi}}{{Cite news |last=Lombardo |first=Clare |date=17 February 2019 |title=More Than 300 Chemical Attacks Launched During Syrian Civil War, Study Says |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/02/17/695545252/more-than-300-chemical-attacks-launched-during-syrian-civil-war-study-says |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107103943/https://www.npr.org/2019/02/17/695545252/more-than-300-chemical-attacks-launched-during-syrian-civil-war-study-says |archive-date=7 January 2023}}

In April 2020, the UN Security Council briefing was held on the findings of a global chemical weapons watchdog, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which found that the Syrian Air Force used sarin and chlorine during multiple attacks in 2017. Syria's close allies, Russia, and other European countries debated the issue, during which Moscow dismissed the OPCW findings while many Western European countries called for accountability for the government's war crimes.{{cite news|url=https://time.com/5822236/russia-syria-chemical-weapons-latamneh/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200416232118/https://time.com/5822236/russia-syria-chemical-weapons-latamneh/|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 April 2020|title=Russia Clashes With Europeans Over Report on Syria Chemical Weapons Attacks|access-date=16 April 2020|magazine=TIME}} The UN Deputy ambassador from Britain, Jonathan Allen, stated that the report by the OPCW's Investigation Identification Team (IIT) claimed that the Syrian regime is responsible for using chemical weapons in the war on at least four occasions. The information was also noted in two UN-mandated investigations.{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/security-council-briefing-on-syrias-use-of-chemical-weapons|title=Security Council briefing on Syria's use of Chemical Weapons|access-date=15 April 2020|website=GOV.UK|date=15 April 2020 |archive-date=15 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200415162846/https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/security-council-briefing-on-syrias-use-of-chemical-weapons|url-status=live}}

In April 2021, Syria was suspended from the OPCW through the public vote of member states for not cooperating with the IIT and for violating the Chemical Weapons Convention.{{Cite news |last=Corder |first=Mike |date=21 April 2021 |title=States suspend Syria's OPCW rights over chemical attacks |work=AP News |url=https://apnews.com/article/netherlands-chemical-weapons-damascus-the-hague-syria-ab2da467f4a4d9336010a141e5178276https://apnews.com/article/netherlands-chemical-weapons-damascus-the-hague-syria-ab2da467f4a4d9336010a141e5178276 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524194220/https://apnews.com/article/netherlands-chemical-weapons-damascus-the-hague-syria-ab2da467f4a4d9336010a141e5178276 |archive-date=24 May 2022}}{{Cite web |date=22 April 2021 |title=Conference of the States Parties adopts Decision to suspend certain rights and privileges of the Syrian Arab Republic under the CWC |url=https://www.opcw.org/media-centre/news/2021/04/conference-states-parties-adopts-decision-suspend-certain-rights-and |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303125905/https://www.opcw.org/media-centre/news/2021/04/conference-states-parties-adopts-decision-suspend-certain-rights-and |archive-date=3 March 2022 |website=OPCW}}{{Cite web|date=22 April 2021 |title=Decision addressing the Possession and Use of Chemical Weapons by the Syrian Arab Republic |url=https://www.opcw.org/sites/default/files/documents/2021/04/c25dec09%28e%29.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319223356/https://www.opcw.org/sites/default/files/documents/2021/04/c25dec09(e).pdf |archive-date=19 March 2022 |via=OPCW}} Findings of another OPCW investigation report published in July 2021 concluded that the Syrian regime had engaged in confirmed chemical attacks at least 17 times, out of the 77 reported incidents of chemical weapons usage attributed to Assadist forces.{{Cite web |date=July 2021 |title=OPCW Confirms Chemical Weapons Use in Syria |url=https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2021-07/news-briefs/opcw-confirms-chemical-weapons-use-syria |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401005907/https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2021-07/news-briefs/opcw-confirms-chemical-weapons-use-syria |archive-date=1 April 2022 |website=Arms Control Association}}{{Cite news |date=4 June 2021 |title=Syria has likely used chemical weapons 17 times: International chemical weapons watchdog |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/syria-has-likely-used-chemical-weapons-17-times-international-chemical-weapons-watchdog/article34724203.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606111350/https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/syria-has-likely-used-chemical-weapons-17-times-international-chemical-weapons-watchdog/article34724203.ece |archive-date=6 June 2021}}

Syria is not a party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions and does not recognize the ban on the use of cluster bombs. The Syrian Army is reported to have begun using cluster bombs in September 2012. Steve Goose, director of the Arms Division at Human Rights Watch, said "Syria is expanding its relentless use of cluster munitions, a banned weapon, and civilians are paying the price with their lives and limbs." He adds of the weapons that "The initial toll is only the beginning because cluster munitions often leave unexploded bomblets that kill and maim long afterward."{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/03/16/syria-mounting-casualties-cluster-munitions |title=Syria: Mounting Casualties from Cluster Munitions |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=16 March 2013 |access-date=4 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205135559/https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/03/16/syria-mounting-casualties-cluster-munitions |archive-date=5 December 2016 |url-status=live}}

Russian thermobaric weapons, also known as "fuel-air bombs", were used by the government's side during the war. On 2 December 2015, The National Interest reported that Russia was deploying the TOS-1 Buratino multiple rocket launch system to Syria, which is "designed to launch massive thermobaric charges against infantry in confined spaces such as urban areas".{{cite web|url=http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-lethal-thermobaric-rocket-launchers-coming-syria-14493|title=Russia's Lethal Thermobaric Rocket Launchers: A Game Changer in Syria?|work=The National Interest|date=2 December 2015|access-date=4 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015203357/http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-lethal-thermobaric-rocket-launchers-coming-syria-14493|archive-date=15 October 2016|url-status=live}} One Buratino thermobaric rocket launcher "can obliterate a roughly {{convert|200|by|400|m|abbr=off}} area with a single salvo".{{cite web|url=http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-lethal-thermobaric-rocket-launchers-coming-syria-14493|title=Russia's Lethal Thermobaric Rocket Launchers: A Game Changer in Syria?|first=Dave|last=Majumdar|date=2 December 2015|work=The National Interest|access-date=23 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161015203357/http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-lethal-thermobaric-rocket-launchers-coming-syria-14493|archive-date=15 October 2016|url-status=live}} Since 2012, rebels have said that the Syrian Air Force (government forces) is using thermobaric weapons against residential areas occupied by the rebel fighters, such as during the Battle of Aleppo and also in Kafr Batna.[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4266902,00.html Syria rebels say Assad using 'mass-killing weapons' in Aleppo – Israel News, Ynetnews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130712054611/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4266902,00.html |date=12 July 2013}}. Ynetnews.com (20 June 1995). A panel of United Nations human rights investigators reported that the Syrian government used thermobaric bombs against the strategic town of Qusayr in March 2013.{{cite news |last=Cumming-Bruce |first=Nick |title=U.N. Panel Reports Increasing Brutality by Both Sides in Syria |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/05/world/middleeast/un-panel-reports-increasing-brutality-by-both-sides-in-syria.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=4 June 2013 |access-date=25 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225081427/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/05/world/middleeast/un-panel-reports-increasing-brutality-by-both-sides-in-syria.html |archive-date=25 February 2017 |url-status=live}} In August 2013, the BBC reported on the use of napalm-like incendiary bombs on a school in northern Syria.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-23892594 |title=Syria crisis: Incendiary bomb victims 'like the walking dead' |work=BBC News |access-date=1 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407051917/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-23892594 |archive-date=7 April 2015 |url-status=live}}

File:Army of Glory fighter launch a BGM-71 TOW missile.png fighter launches a BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missile at a Syrian government position during the 2017 Hama offensive.]]

Several types of anti-tank missiles are in use in Syria. Russia has sent 9M133 Kornet, third-generation anti-tank guided missiles to the Syrian government whose forces have used them extensively against armour and other ground targets to fight jihadists and rebels.{{cite web |url=http://www.defenseworld.net/news/13790/Russia_Delivers_Kornet_Anti_Tank_Guided_Missiles_To_Syria |title=Russia Delivers Kornet Anti-Tank Guided Missiles To Syria |access-date=23 October 2016 |date=20 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150824185345/http://www.defenseworld.net/news/13790/Russia_Delivers_Kornet_Anti_Tank_Guided_Missiles_To_Syria |archive-date=24 August 2015 |url-status=live}} US-made BGM-71 TOW missiles are one of the primary weapons of rebel groups and have been primarily provided by the United States and Saudi Arabia.{{cite web |title=Saudi Arabia just replenished Syrian rebels with one of the most effective weapons against the Assad regime – Business Insider |url=http://www.businessinsider.sg/syria-rebels-and-tow-missiles-2015-10/ |website=Business Insider |access-date=12 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215180526/http://www.businessinsider.sg/syria-rebels-and-tow-missiles-2015-10/ |archive-date=15 February 2016 |url-status=live}} The US has also supplied many Eastern European sourced 9K111 Fagot launchers and warheads to Syrian rebel groups under its Timber Sycamore program.{{cite news |last1=Binnie |first1=Jeremy |last2=Gibson |first2=Neil |name-list-style=and |date=8 April 2016 |title=US arms shipment to Syrian rebels detailed |url=http://www.janes.com/article/59374/us-arms-shipment-to-syrian-rebels-detailed |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205081205/http://www.janes.com/article/59374/us-arms-shipment-to-syrian-rebels-detailed |archive-date=5 December 2016 |access-date=3 December 2016 |work=Jane's Defence Weekly |publisher=IHS}}

{{See also|Operation Laylat al-Qadr}}

In June 2017, Iran attacked ISIL targets in the Deir ez-Zor area in eastern Syria with Zolfaghar ballistic missiles fired from western Iran,{{cite web |url=http://www.janes.com/article/71519/iran-says-it-hit-targets-in-syria-with-zolfaghar-ballistic-missiles |title=Iran says it hit targets in Syria with Zolfaghar ballistic missiles – Jane's 360 |website=janes.com |access-date=19 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619123538/http://www.janes.com/article/71519/iran-says-it-hit-targets-in-syria-with-zolfaghar-ballistic-missiles |archive-date=19 June 2017 |url-status=live}}
{{cite web |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/18/irans-revolutionary-guard-strikes-syria-for-tehran-attacks.html |title=Iran's Revolutionary Guard strikes Syria for Tehran attacks |publisher=CNBC |date=18 June 2017 |access-date=15 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622173300/http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/18/irans-revolutionary-guard-strikes-syria-for-tehran-attacks.html |archive-date=22 June 2017 |url-status=live}} in the first use of mid-range missiles by Iran in 30 years.{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/iran/1.796422 |title=Iran Fires at Militants in Syria in First Use of Mid-range Missiles in 30 Years |first1=Gili |last1=Cohen |agency=Reuters, Associated Press |date=18 June 2017 |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=18 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170618203414/http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/iran/1.796422 |archive-date=18 June 2017 |url-status=live}} According to Jane's Defence Weekly, the missiles travelled 650–700 kilometres.

{{Main|Sectarianism and minorities in the Syrian civil war|Federalization of Syria}}

File:Syria Ethno-religious Map.svg

The successive governments of Hafez and Bashar al-Assad have been closely associated with the country's minority Alawite religious group, an offshoot of Shia, whereas the majority of the population, and most of the opposition, is Sunni. This resulted in calls for persecution of the Alawites by parts of the opposition.{{cite news |last=Behari |first=Elad |date=23 December 2011 |title=Syria: Sunnis Threatening to Massacre Minority Alawites |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110110322/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/151013 |archive-date=10 January 2012 |access-date=11 March 2011 |publisher=Arutz Sheva}}

A third of 250,000 Alawite men of military age have been killed fighting in the Syrian civil war.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11518232/In-Syrias-war-Alawites-pay-heavy-price-for-loyalty-to-Bashar-al-Assad.html |title=In Syria's war, Alawites pay heavy price for loyalty to Bashar al-Assad |work=The Daily Telegraph |last=Sherlock |first=Ruth |date=7 April 2015 |location=London |access-date=5 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407102223/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11518232/In-Syrias-war-Alawites-pay-heavy-price-for-loyalty-to-Bashar-al-Assad.html |archive-date=7 April 2015 |url-status=live}} In May 2013, SOHR stated that out of 94,000 killed during the war, 41,000 of which being Alawites.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-deaths-idUSBRE94D0L420130514 |title=Syria Death Toll Likely As High As 120,000, Group Says |work=Reuters |date=14 May 2013 |access-date=6 October 2013 |first=Mariam |last=Karouny |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013022620/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/14/us-syria-crisis-deaths-idUSBRE94D0L420130514 |archive-date=13 October 2013 |url-status=live}}

According to The Daily Beast news website, many Syrian Christians stated in November 2013 that they had fled after they were targeted by the anti-government rebels.{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/19/syria-s-christians-flee-kidnappings-rape-executions.html |title=Syria's Christians Flee Kidnappings, Rape, Executions |last=Dettmet |first=Jamie |date=19 November 2013 |work=The Daily Beast |access-date=20 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131119224625/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/19/syria-s-christians-flee-kidnappings-rape-executions.html |archive-date=19 November 2013 |url-status=live}}

As militias and non-Syrian Shia—motivated by pro-Shia sentiment rather than loyalty to the Assad government—have taken over fighting the anti-government forces from the weakened Syrian Army, fighting has taken on a more sectarian nature. One opposition leader has said that the Shia militias often "try to occupy and control the religious symbols in the Sunni community to achieve not just a territorial victory but a sectarian one as well"—reportedly occupying mosques and replacing Sunni icons with pictures of Shia leaders. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, human rights abuses have been committed by the militias including "a series of sectarian massacres between March 2011 and January 2014 that left 962 civilians dead".{{cite news |last1=Nelson |first1=Lara |date=18 November 2015 |title=The Shia jihad and the death of Syria's army |url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/shia-jihad-and-death-syria-s-army-1508759016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114052109/http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/shia-jihad-and-death-syria-s-army-1508759016 |archive-date=14 November 2016 |access-date=11 October 2016 |quote=Without the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Lebanese Hezbollah the army could not stand up. [For example, in "the largest and most important military force for Assad in southern Syria" – Division 9,] Seventy percent of the troops ... are Iranian troops or Lebanese Hezbollah, the rest are shabiha. Only two to three percent are regular Syrian soldiers. |agency=Middle East Eye}}

In 2025 after the defeat of Assad and the rise of the Transitional government an ongoing series of mass killings and massacres against Alawites has occurred in Syria since March 2025 as part of communal and sectarian violence by fighters aligned with the Syrian caretaker government (including locally mobilised civilians, Syrian National Army (SNA) militias and Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah) and armed remnants of the former Assad regime. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that 1,614 civilians were killed by armed militias supporting the Syrian government since 6 March. The observatory estimated actual numbers to be much higher.{{Cite web|url=https://www.syriahr.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%B5%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%82-3-%D9%85%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%B1-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A5%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%A7/752798/|title=المرصد السوري يوثق 3 مجازر جديدة.. وإجمالي الضحايا يرتفع إلى 1383 مدنياً.. ويحذر من مخاطر دفن الضحايا جماعياً في الساحل السوري|access-date=4 May 2025|language=Arabic|website=Syriahr}}

{{Main|Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria|Rojava conflict}}

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava,{{efn|The name "Rojava" ("The West") was initially used by the region's PYD-led government, before its usage was dropped in 2016.{{sfnp|Lister|2015|p=154}}{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|p=89}}{{cite web|url=https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/51940fb9-3aff-4e51-bcf8-b1629af00299/-Rojava--no-longer-exists---Northern-Syria--adopted-instead-|title='Rojava' no longer exists, 'Northern Syria' adopted instead|website=Kurdistan24|access-date=19 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114141412/https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/51940fb9-3aff-4e51-bcf8-b1629af00299/-rojava--no-longer-exists---northern-syria--adopted-instead-|archive-date=14 November 2019|url-status=live}} Since then, the name is still used by some locals and international observers.}} is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=11, 95}}{{sfnp|Zabad|2017|pp=219, 228}} The region does not claim to pursue full independence but autonomy within a federal and democratic Syria.{{cite web|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/analysis-kurds-syria-rojava-1925945786|title=ANALYSIS: 'This is a new Syria, not a new Kurdistan'|publisher=Middle East Eye|date=21 March 2016|access-date=25 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922211744/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/analysis-kurds-syria-rojava-1925945786|archive-date=22 September 2018|url-status=live}} Rojava consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, Manbij and Deir Ez-Zor.{{cite web |date=4 February 2016 |title=Delegation from the Democratic administration of Self-participate of self-participate in the first and second conference of the Shaba region |url=http://cantonafrin.com/en/news/view/1658.a-delegation-from-the-democratic-administration-of-self-participate-in-the-second-conference-of-the-el--shahba-region.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809175326/http://cantonafrin.com/en/news/view/1658.a-delegation-from-the-democratic-administration-of-self-participate-in-the-second-conference-of-the-el--shahba-region.html |archive-date=9 August 2016 |access-date=12 June 2016 |publisher=Cantonafrin.com}}{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=97–98}} The region gained its de facto autonomy in 2012 in the context of the ongoing Rojava conflict, in which its official military force, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has taken part.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49973218|title=Turkey's Syria offensive explained in four maps|date=14 October 2019|publisher=BBC News|access-date=1 November 2019|archive-date=10 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010081358/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49973218|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Syria Kurds adopt constitution for autonomous federal region|url=https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2016/12/30/syria-kurds-adopt-constitution-for-autonomous-federal-region|access-date=5 October 2018|publisher=TheNewArab|date=31 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005194832/https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2016/12/30/syria-kurds-adopt-constitution-for-autonomous-federal-region|archive-date=5 October 2018|url-status=live}}

While entertaining some foreign relations, the region is not officially recognized as autonomous by the government of Syria or any state except for the Catalan Parliament.{{Cite web|date=26 October 2021|title=Umar: Catalonian recognition of AANES is the beginning|url=http://www.hawarnews.com/en/haber/umar-catalonian-recognition-of-aanes-is-the-beginning-h27342.html|url-status=live|access-date=27 October 2021|website=Hawar News Agency|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026094527/https://hawarnews.com/en/haber/umar-catalonian-recognition-of-aanes-is-the-beginning-h27342.html |archive-date=26 October 2021 }}{{Cite web|last=van Wilgenburg|first=Wladimir|author-link=Wladimir van Wilgenburg|date=21 October 2021|title=Catalan parliament recognizes administration in northeast Syria|url=https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/25991-Catalan-parliament-recognizes-administration-in-northeast-Syria|url-status=live|access-date=27 October 2021|website=Kurdistan24|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021074228/https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/25991-Catalan-parliament-recognizes-administration-in-northeast-Syria |archive-date=21 October 2021 }} The AANES has widespread support for its universal democratic, sustainable, autonomous pluralist, equal and feminist policies in dialogues with other political parties and organizations.{{Cite journal |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14650045.2018.1554564 |doi=10.1080/14650045.2018.1554564 |title=Beyond Orientalism: Exploring the Distinctive Feminism of democratic confederalism in Rojava |year=2018 |last1=Shahvisi |first1=Arianne |journal=Geopolitics |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=1–25 |s2cid=149972015 |archive-date=9 May 2022 |access-date=13 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509020623/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14650045.2018.1554564 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=https://anfenglish.com/news/german-mp-jelpke-rojava-needs-help-against-corona-pandemic-42546|title=German MP Jelpke: Rojava needs help against Corona pandemic|website=ANF News|access-date=13 October 2022|archive-date=27 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427171838/https://anfenglish.com/news/german-mp-jelpke-rojava-needs-help-against-corona-pandemic-42546|url-status=live}}{{Cite journal|title=Gender Revolution in Rojava: The Voices beyond Tabloid Geopolitics|first1=Bahar|last1=Şimşek|first2=Joost|last2=Jongerden|date=29 October 2018|journal=Geopolitics|volume=26|issue=4|pages=1023–1045|doi=10.1080/14650045.2018.1531283|doi-access=free|hdl=1887/87090|hdl-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last=Burç|first=Rosa|date=22 May 2020|title=Non-territorial autonomy and gender equality: The case of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria – Rojava|url=http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0353-5738/2020/0353-57382003319B.pdf|journal=Philosophy and Society|volume=31|issue=3|pages=277–448|doi=10.2298/FID2003319B|s2cid=226412887|archive-date=17 June 2022|access-date=13 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617192825/http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0353-5738/2020/0353-57382003319B.pdf|url-status=live}} Northeastern Syria is polyethnic and home to sizeable ethnic Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian populations, with smaller communities of ethnic Turkmen, Armenians, Circassians and Yazidis.{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=xviii, 112}}{{sfnp|Zabad|2017|pp=219, 228–229}}{{Cite book|last=Schmidinger|first=Thomas|title=The Battle for the Mountain of the Kurds|publisher=PM Press, Kairos|year=2019|isbn=978-1-62963-651-1|location=Oakland, CA|pages=12|translator-last=Schiffmann|translator-first=Thomas|quote=Afrin was the home to the largest Ezidi minority in Syria.}}

The supporters of the region's administration state that it is an officially secular polity{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=xviii, 66, 200}}{{cite web|date=20 February 2016|title=Syria Kurds challenging traditions, promote civil marriage|url=http://aranews.net/2016/02/syria-kurds-challenging-traditions-promote-civil-marriage/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160222111444/http://aranews.net/2016/02/syria-kurds-challenging-traditions-promote-civil-marriage/|archive-date=22 February 2016|access-date=23 August 2016|publisher=ARA News}} with direct democratic ambitions based on an anarchistic, feminist and libertarian socialist ideology promoting decentralization, gender equality,{{sfnp|Zabad|2017|p=219}}{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=156–163}} environmental sustainability, social ecology and pluralistic tolerance for religious, cultural and political diversity, and that these values are mirrored in its constitution, society and politics, stating it to be a model for a federalized Syria as a whole, rather than outright independence.{{cite news|title=PYD leader: SDF operation for Raqqa countryside in progress, Syria can only be secular|url=http://aranews.net/2016/05/poyd-leader-current-sdf-operation-recapture-northern-countryside-raqqa-not-city/|access-date=8 October 2016|publisher=ARA News|date=28 May 2016|archive-date=1 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001094203/http://aranews.net/2016/05/poyd-leader-current-sdf-operation-recapture-northern-countryside-raqqa-not-city/|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last=Ross|first=Carne|date=30 September 2015|title=The Kurds' Democratic Experiment|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/30/opinion/the-kurds-democratic-experiment.html|access-date=20 May 2016|archive-date=18 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618184815/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/30/opinion/the-kurds-democratic-experiment.html|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last1=In der Maur|first1=Renée|last2=Staal|first2=Jonas|title=Stateless Democracy|date=2015|publisher=BAK|location=Utrecht|isbn=978-90-77288-22-1|page=19|url=http://newworldsummit.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/NWA5-Stateless-Democracy1.pdf|chapter=Introduction|access-date=19 April 2016|archive-date=25 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025095239/http://newworldsummit.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/NWA5-Stateless-Democracy1.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2012/12/turkey4358b.pdf|title=Rethinking Politics and Democracy in the Middle East|last=Jongerden|first=Joost|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Ekurd.net|access-date=9 October 2016|archive-date=15 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315143043/http://ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2012/12/turkey4358b.pdf|url-status=dead}} The region's administration has also been accused by some partisan and nonpartisan sources of authoritarianism, support of the Syrian government,{{sfnp|Allsopp|van Wilgenburg|2019|pp=94, 130–131, 184}} Kurdification and displacement. However, despite this the AANES has been the most democratic system in Syria, with direct open elections, universal equality, respecting human rights within the region, as well as defense of minority and religious rights within Syria.{{cite journal |last1=Knapp |first1=Michael |last2=Jongerden |first2=Joost |title=Communal Democracy: The Social Contract and Confederalism in Rojava |journal=Comparative Islamic Studies |date=6 October 2016 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=87–109 |doi=10.1558/cis.29642 |url=https://www.academia.edu/29120372}}{{Cite journal|url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/south-atlantic-quarterly/article-abstract/115/1/184/3804/The-Rojava-Experience-Possibilities-and-Challenges|title=The Rojava Experience: Possibilities and Challenges of Building a Democratic Life|first1=Bülent|last1=Küçük|first2=Ceren|last2=Özselçuk|date=1 January 2016|journal=South Atlantic Quarterly|volume=115|issue=1|pages=184–196|via=read.dukeupress.edu|doi=10.1215/00382876-3425013|archive-date=27 April 2022|access-date=13 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220427094931/https://read.dukeupress.edu/south-atlantic-quarterly/article-abstract/115/1/184/3804/The-Rojava-Experience-Possibilities-and-Challenges|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/30582442 |title=The Experiment of the Rojava System in Grassroots Participatory Democracy: Its Theoretical Foundation, Structure, and Strategies|journal=Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science |volume=4|issue=11|pages=80–88|last=Barkhoda|

first=Dalir}}{{Cite journal |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14650045.2018.1508016 |doi=10.1080/14650045.2018.1508016 |title=When Öcalan met Bookchin: The Kurdish Freedom Movement and the Political Theory of Democratic Confederalism |year=2018 |last1=Gerber |first1=Damian |last2=Brincat |first2=Shannon |journal=Geopolitics |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=1–25 |s2cid=150297675 |archive-date=27 April 2022 |access-date=13 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220427094729/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14650045.2018.1508016 |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=https://www.imemo.ru/files/File/magazines/puty_miru/2016/02/04Moberg.pdf|title=NATION-BUILDING IN ROJAVA: PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY AMIDST THE SYRIAN CIVL WAR|website=Imemo.ru|access-date=4 December 2021|archive-date=22 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622151413/https://www.imemo.ru/files/File/magazines/puty_miru/2016/02/04Moberg.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://repository.bilkent.edu.tr/bitstream/handle/11693/36653/bilkent-research-paper.pdf?sequence=1|format=PDF|title=RUPTURES AND RIPPLE EFFECTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND BEYOND|website=Repository.bilkent.edu.tr|access-date=4 December 2021|archive-date=18 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718174324/http://repository.bilkent.edu.tr/bitstream/handle/11693/36653/bilkent-research-paper.pdf?sequence=1|url-status=dead}}

In March 2015, the Syrian Information Minister announced that his government considered recognizing Kurdish autonomy "within the law and constitution".{{cite web|title=KRG: Elections in Jazira are Not Acceptable|publisher=Basnews|url=http://basnews.com/en/news/2015/03/14/krg-elections-in-jazira-are-not-acceptable/|date=14 March 2015|access-date=15 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316122001/http://basnews.com/en/news/2015/03/14/krg-elections-in-jazira-are-not-acceptable/|archive-date=16 March 2015|url-status=dead}} While the region's administration was not invited to the Geneva III peace talks on Syria,{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-kurds-idUSKCN0YE2NI|title=Syrian Kurds point finger at Western-backed opposition|publisher=Reuters|date=23 May 2016|access-date=24 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402083032/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-kurds-idUSKCN0YE2NI|archive-date=2 April 2019|url-status=live}} or any of the earlier talks, Russia in particular called for the region's inclusion and did to some degree carry the region's positions into the talks, as documented in Russia's May 2016 draft for a new constitution for Syria.{{cite web|url=https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/567021-russia-finishes-draft-for-new-syria-constitution-report|title=Russia finishes draft for new Syria constitution|publisher=Now.MMedia/Al-Akhbar|date=24 May 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807092054/https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/567021-russia-finishes-draft-for-new-syria-constitution-report |archive-date=7 August 2016}}{{cite web|title=Syria rejects Russian proposal for Kurdish federation|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/turkey-russia-mediates-between-kurds-and-assad.html|publisher=Al-Monitor|date=24 October 2016|access-date=23 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223143954/https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/10/turkey-russia-mediates-between-kurds-and-assad.html|archive-date=23 December 2019|url-status=live}}

File:Syrian Democratic Forces announce Deir ez-Zor offensive.jpg announcing the Deir ez-Zor campaign in 2017]]

An analysis released in June 2017 described the region's "relationship with the government fraught but functional" and a "semi-cooperative dynamic".{{cite news|url=https://warontherocks.com/2017/06/the-signal-in-syrias-noise/|title=The Signal in Syria's Noise|first=Sam|last=Heller|publisher=warontherocks.com|date=30 June 2017|access-date=19 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630154243/https://warontherocks.com/2017/06/the-signal-in-syrias-noise/|archive-date=30 June 2017|url-status=live}} In late September 2017, Syria's Foreign Minister said that Damascus would consider granting Kurds more autonomy in the region once ISIL was defeated.{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/09/syria-granting-kurds-greater-autonomy-170926121821968.html|title=Syria to consider granting Kurds greater autonomy|website=Al Jazeera|access-date=25 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228052604/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/09/syria-granting-kurds-greater-autonomy-170926121821968.html|archive-date=28 December 2017|url-status=live}}

On 13 October 2019, the SDF announced that it had reached an agreement with the Syrian Army which allowed the latter to enter the SDF-held cities of Manbij and Kobani in order to dissuade a Turkish attack on those cities as part of the cross-border offensive by Turkish and Turkish-backed Syrian rebels.{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-towns-report-idUSKBN1WS0K0|title=Report: Syrian army to enter SDF-held Kobani, Manbij|website=Reuters|date=14 October 2019|access-date=1 November 2019|archive-date=13 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191013164335/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-towns-report-idUSKBN1WS0K0|url-status=live}} The Syrian Army also deployed in the north of Syria together with the SDF along the Syrian-Turkish border and entered into several SDF-held cities such as Ayn Issa and Tell Tamer.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-government-sdf-idUSKBN1WS0PF|title=Syrian army to deploy along Turkish border in deal with Kurdish-led forces|website=Reuters|date=14 October 2019|access-date=1 November 2019|archive-date=22 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022053311/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-government-sdf-idUSKBN1WS0PF|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/syrian-army-moves-to-confront-turkish-forces-as-us-withdraws/|title=Syrian army moves to confront Turkish forces as US withdraws|website=Times of Israel|date=14 October 2019|access-date=1 November 2019|archive-date=14 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014110752/https://www.timesofisrael.com/syrian-army-moves-to-confront-turkish-forces-as-us-withdraws/|url-status=live}} Following the creation of the Second Northern Syria Buffer Zone, the SDF stated that it was ready to work cooperatively with the Syrian Army if a political settlement between the Syrian government and the SDF was achieved.{{cite web|url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-syria-security-idUKKBN1X319A|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024140036/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-syria-security-idUKKBN1X319A|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 October 2019|title=Syrian Kurds accuse Turkey of violations, Russia says peace plan on track|website=Reuters|date=24 October 2019|access-date=1 November 2019}}

According to information gathered in December 2021, Iraqi authorities have repatriated 100 Iraqi fighters from the ISIL (ISIS) group who were being held by Kurdish forces in northeast Syria.{{Cite web |title=Iraq repatriates 100 ISIL fighters from Syria's Kurdish forces |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/8/iraq-repatriates-100-isil-fighters-from-syria-kurdish-forces |date=8 December 2021 |website=Aljazeera.com |access-date=21 January 2022 |archive-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121220008/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/8/iraq-repatriates-100-isil-fighters-from-syria-kurdish-forces |url-status=live }}

As of 2022, the main military threat and conflict faced by Rojava's official defense force, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), are firstly, an ongoing conflict with ISIS; and secondly, ongoing concerns of possible invasion of the northeast regions of Syria by Turkish forces, in order to strike Kurdish groups in general, and Rojava in particular.[https://www.thenation.com/article/world/rojava-kurds-syria/ Is This the End of Rojava?The Kurdish region of northeast Syria was autonomous for seven years, but had to ask the Syrian government for protection after an invasion by Turkey.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129211158/https://www.thenation.com/article/world/rojava-kurds-syria/ |date=29 November 2022 }} By Mireille Court and Chris Den Hond, 18 February 2020, The Nation website.[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/01/we-stand-in-solidarity-with-rojava-an-example-to-the-world We stand in solidarity with Rojava, an example to the world] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002134723/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/01/we-stand-in-solidarity-with-rojava-an-example-to-the-world |date=2 October 2020 }}.Leaders from social movements, communities and First Nations from around the world, including LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, Eve Ensler and Stuart Basden on the Turkish invasion in north-east Syria. Fri 1 November 2019 guardian.com[https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/STATEMENTS/Statements-View/Article/3161976/statement-regarding-syrian-democratic-forces-security-operation-in-al-hol-camp/ Statement regarding Syrian Democratic Forces security operation in al-Hol camp] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013190856/https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/STATEMENTS/Statements-View/Article/3161976/statement-regarding-syrian-democratic-forces-security-operation-in-al-hol-camp/ |date=13 October 2022 }}, 18 September 2022 US Army Central Command Communication Integration official statement. An official report by the Rojava government noted Turkey-backed militias as the main threat to the region of Rojava and its government.[https://rojavainformationcenter.com/2022/07/the-syrian-national-army-the-turkish-proxy-militias-of-northern-syria/ The Syrian National Army: The Turkish Proxy Militias of Northern Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220721092444/https://rojavainformationcenter.com/2022/07/the-syrian-national-army-the-turkish-proxy-militias-of-northern-syria/ |date=21 July 2022 }}, 21 July 2022, Rojava official website.

In May 2022 Turkish and opposition Syrian officials said that Turkey's Armed Forces and the Syrian National Army are planning a new operation against the SDF, composed mostly of the YPG/YPJ.{{Cite web |date=5 June 2022 |title=Turkey planned Syria military operation after Russia withdrawal, sources reveal |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220605-turkey-planned-syria-military-operation-after-russia-withdrawal-sources-reveal/ |access-date=8 June 2022 |website=Middle East Monitor |language=en-GB |archive-date=5 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605082611/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220605-turkey-planned-syria-military-operation-after-russia-withdrawal-sources-reveal/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Syria: US-backed SDF 'open' to working with Syrian troops to fight off Turkey invasion |url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syria-sdf-open-working-syrian-troops-fight-turkey-invasion |access-date=8 June 2022 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en |archive-date=5 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605135451/http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syria-sdf-open-working-syrian-troops-fight-turkey-invasion |url-status=live }} The new operation is set to resume efforts to create {{Convert|30|km|mi|-wide|adj=mid}} "safe zones" along Turkey's border with Syria, President Erdoğan said in a statement.{{Cite web |date=7 June 2022 |title=Russian, regime forces boosted after Turkey signals Syria operation |url=https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/diplomacy/russian-regime-forces-boosted-after-turkey-signals-syria-operation |access-date=8 June 2022 |website=Daily Sabah |language=en-US |archive-date=7 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607153400/https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/diplomacy/russian-regime-forces-boosted-after-turkey-signals-syria-operation |url-status=live }} The operation aims at the Tal Rifaat and Manbij regions west of the Euphrates and other areas further east. Meanwhile, Ankara is in talks with Moscow over the operation. President Erdoğan reiterated his determination for the operation on 8 August 2022.{{Cite web |title=President Erdoğan reiterates determination for Syria operation |url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/president-erdogan-reiterates-determination-for-syria-operation-175967 |access-date=9 August 2022 |website=Hürriyet Daily News |date=8 August 2022 |language=en |archive-date=8 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808160100/https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/president-erdogan-reiterates-determination-for-syria-operation-175967 |url-status=live }}

On 5 June 2022, the leader of the SDF, Mazloum Abdi, said that forces of the Kurdish government in the AANES were willing to work with Syrian government forces to defend against Turkey, saying "Damascus should use its air defense systems against Turkish planes." Abdi said that Kurdish groups would be able to cooperate with the Syrian government, and still retain their autonomy.[https://www.voanews.com/a/us-backed-kurdish-led-forces-say-ready-to-coordinate-with-syrian-army-against-turkey/6606769.html US-Backed Kurdish-Led Forces Say Ready to Coordinate With Syrian Army Against Turkey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720154601/https://www.voanews.com/a/us-backed-kurdish-led-forces-say-ready-to-coordinate-with-syrian-army-against-turkey/6606769.html |date=20 July 2023 }}, Reuters, via VOA website, By Maya Gebeily, 5 June 2022.[https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/syria/2022/06/06/syria-should-use-air-defences-against-turkish-invasion/ Syria 'should use air defences' against Turkish invasion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601033047/https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/syria/2022/06/06/syria-should-use-air-defences-against-turkish-invasion/ |date=1 June 2023 }}, The National, 6 June 2022.[https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauliddon/2022/06/20/these-kurdish-led-forces-cannot-count-on-syrian-air-defenses-to-protect-them-against-the-turkish-air-force/ These Kurdish-Led Forces Cannot Count On Syrian Air Defenses To Protect Them Against The Turkish Air Force] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020044555/https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauliddon/2022/06/20/these-kurdish-led-forces-cannot-count-on-syrian-air-defenses-to-protect-them-against-the-turkish-air-force/ |date=20 October 2022 }}, Paul Iddon, 20 June 2022.[https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/06/kurdish-syrian-iranian-forces-coordinate-ahead-turkish-operation Kurdish, Syrian, Iranian forces coordinate ahead of Turkish operation:Kurdish units and Iranian-affiliated factions in Syria have formed a joint operations room under Russian supervision to counter a possible Turkish military operation in northern Syria.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131173617/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/06/kurdish-syrian-iranian-forces-coordinate-ahead-turkish-operation |date=31 January 2023 }}, by Mohammed Hardan, 17 June 2022. al-monitor.com[https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-backed-syrian-kurds-turn-damascus-turkey-attacks-85231755 US-backed Syrian Kurds to turn to Damascus if Turkey attacks. The US-backed and Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria say they will turn to the government in Damascus for support should Turkey go ahead with its threat to launch a new incursion into the war-torn country.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020210851/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-backed-syrian-kurds-turn-damascus-turkey-attacks-85231755 |date=20 October 2022 }} By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press, 7 June 2022. The joint discussions were a result of the negotiation processes that had begun in October 2019.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/turkey-syria-news-kurds-deal-bashar-al-assad-sdf-latest-updates-a9154561.html Syria's Kurds strike deal with Assad after being abandoned by US] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320154200/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/turkey-syria-news-kurds-deal-bashar-al-assad-sdf-latest-updates-a9154561.html |date=20 March 2023}}, Kurdish fighters agree to hand over border towns to Damascus in deal brokered by Russia, Richard Hall, Sunday 13 October 2019, the UK Independent. In early 2023, reports indicated that the forces of Islamic State in Syria had mostly been defeated, with only a few cells remaining in various remote locations.[https://iraq.un.org/sites/default/files/2023-02/S202376%20EN.pdf Sixteenth report of the Secretary-General on the threat posed by ISIL (Da'esh) to international peace and security and the range of United Nations efforts in support of Member States in countering the threat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320194115/https://iraq.un.org/sites/default/files/2023-02/S202376%20EN.pdf |date=20 March 2023 }}, UN official website, February 2023.[https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/3255908/centcom-year-in-review-2022-the-fight-against-isis/ CENTCOM – YEAR IN REVIEW 2022: THE FIGHT AGAINST ISIS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321164516/https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/3255908/centcom-year-in-review-2022-the-fight-against-isis/ |date=21 March 2023 }}, USCENTCOM, official website of US Army Central Command, 29 December 2022.[https://www.euronews.com/2023/03/01/ex-islamic-state-fighters-still-pose-a-risk-in-turkey-finds-report Ex-Islamic State fighters still pose a risk in Turkey, finds report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608124159/https://www.euronews.com/2023/03/01/ex-islamic-state-fighters-still-pose-a-risk-in-turkey-finds-report |date=8 June 2023 }}, By Joshua Askew, 1 March 2023.

As of 2023, Turkey was continuing its support for various militias within Syria, consisting mostly of the Syrian National Army, which periodically attempted some operations against Kurdish groups.{{Cite web |last1=Rose |first1=Caroline |last2=Shabanian |first2=Aram |last3=Wilder |first3=Calvin |date=7 March 2023 |title=Operation Claw-Sword Exposes Blind Spots in the US' NE Syria Strategy |url=https://newlinesinstitute.org/nonstate-actors/operation-claw-sword-exposes-blind-spots-in-the-us-ne-syria-strategy/ |access-date=6 April 2024 |website=New Lines Institute |language=en}} One stated goal was to create "safe zones" along Turkey's border with Syria, according to a statement by Turkish President Erdoğan. The operations were generally aimed at the Tal Rifaat and Manbij regions west of the Euphrates and other areas further east. President Erdoğan openly stated his support for the operations, in talks with Moscow in mid-2022.

{{Human toll of Syrian Civil War}}

File:Syrian refugees in lebanon.jpg

{{Main|Refugees of the Syrian civil war}}

{{update|section|date=December 2024}}

As of December 2022, an estimated 6.7 million refugees have been forced to flee Syria,{{Cite web |date=6 February 2023 |title=Syria – Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect |url=https://www.globalr2p.org/countries/syria/ |access-date=12 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206051649/https://www.globalr2p.org/countries/syria/ |archive-date=6 February 2023 }} with approximately 5.5 million Syrian refugees residing across the five nearby countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. Germany hosts the largest refugee population out of any non-neighboring nation with more than 850,000 Syrian refugees.{{Cite web |date=29 March 2023 |title=Syria Refugee Crisis Explained |url=https://www.unrefugees.org/news/syria-refugee-crisis-explained/ |access-date=12 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329091756/https://www.unrefugees.org/news/syria-refugee-crisis-explained/ |archive-date=29 March 2023 }}

Over 3.7 million Syrian refugees are in Turkey.{{Cite web |title=Situation Syria Regional Refugee Response |url=https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/syria |access-date=17 January 2022 |website=data2.unhcr.org |archive-date=5 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200405022803/https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/syria |url-status=live }} Many refugees are housed in a system of a dozen Syrian refugee camps placed under the direct authority of the Turkish Government. Satellite images confirmed that the first Syrian camps appeared in Turkey in July 2011, shortly after the towns of Deraa, Homs and Hama were besieged.{{cite web |title=Syrian refugee camps in Turkish territory tracked by satellite |url=http://www.astrium-geo.com/en/4807-syrian-refugee-camps-in-turkish-territory-interactive-web-report |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006120725/http://www.astrium-geo.com/en/4807-syrian-refugee-camps-in-turkish-territory-interactive-web-report |archive-date=6 October 2014 |access-date=20 June 2013 |publisher=Astrium-geo.com}} The massive sustained presence of Syrian refugees has fueled resentment from Turkish citizens and figures across the country's political spectrum. They have been employed as scapegoats during periods of crisis within the country. Measures have been put in place to "drive them out" including raised fees on utilities such as water and services such as marriage licences. There has been an increase on attacks targeting Syrian refugees in the country.{{Cite web |last=Farooq |first=Umar |title=How killing of Syrian refugee marks an alarming trend in Turkey |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/12/turkey-news-log-jan-12 |access-date=17 January 2022 |website=aljazeera.com |language=en |archive-date=17 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217103925/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/12/turkey-news-log-jan-12 |url-status=live }}

In 2013, one in three of Syrian refugees (about 667,000 people) sought safety in Lebanon, which had a population of 5.2 million in 2012."[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/05/world/middleeast/Syrian-Refugees-in-Lebanon.html Syrian Refugees in Lebanon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160722035626/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/09/05/world/middleeast/Syrian-Refugees-in-Lebanon.html |date=22 July 2016}}", The New York Times, 5 September 2013{{Cite web |title=Lebanon |url=https://data.who.int/countries/422 |access-date=12 December 2024 |website=datadot |language=en |archive-date=13 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241213225950/https://data.who.int/countries/422 |url-status=live }}

In September 2014, the UN stated that the number of Syrian refugees had exceeded three{{spaces}}million.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-refugees-idUSKBN0GT0AX20140829 |title=Syrian refugees top 3 million, half of all Syrians displaced: U.N. |work=Reuters |access-date=2 October 2014 |date=29 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006131448/http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/29/us-syria-crisis-refugees-idUSKBN0GT0AX20140829 |archive-date=6 October 2014 |url-status=live}} According to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Sunnis are leaving for Lebanon and undermining Hezbollah's status. The Syrian refugee crisis has caused the "Jordan is Palestine" threat to be diminished due to the onslaught of new refugees in Jordan. Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III Laham claimed in 2014 that more than 450,000 Syrian Christians have been displaced by the conflict."[http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/10/18/syrian-civil-war-causes-one-third-of-country%E2%80%99s-christians-to-flee-their-homes/ Syrian Civil War Causes One-Third of Country's Christians to Flee Their Homes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912195403/http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/10/18/syrian-civil-war-causes-one-third-of-country%E2%80%99s-christians-to-flee-their-homes/ |date=12 September 2014}}". The Algemeiner Journal. 18 October 2013. {{As of|September 2016}}, the European Union has reported that there are 13.5{{spaces}}million refugees in need of assistance in the country.{{cite web |url=http://syrianrefugees.eu/ |title=Syrian Refugees |access-date=13 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109061848/http://syrianrefugees.eu/ |archive-date=9 November 2015 |url-status=live}} Australia is being appealed to rescue more than 60 women and children stuck in Syria's Al-Hawl camp{{spaces}}ahead of a potential Turkish invasion.{{cite web|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/fears-for-dozens-of-australian-children-in-refugee-camps-in-syria/video/a0faaf3c066348655efc81b476cb269a|title=Fears for dozens of Australian children in refugee camps in Syria|date=8 October 2019|website=Daily Telegraph|language=en|access-date=8 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191008132940/https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/fears-for-dozens-of-australian-children-in-refugee-camps-in-syria/video/a0faaf3c066348655efc81b476cb269a|archive-date=8 October 2019|url-status=live}}

A report from NGO ACT Alliance found that refugees in camps in north-eastern Syria have tripled in 2019.{{cite web |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/act-alliance-call-action-jordan-syria-and-lebanon-18-december-2019 |title=ACT Alliance Call for Action: Jordan, Syria and Lebanon (18 December 2019) REPORTfrom ACT AlliancePublished on 18 Dec 2019. |date=18 December 2019 |access-date=18 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218143247/https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/act-alliance-call-action-jordan-syria-and-lebanon-18-december-2019 |archive-date=18 December 2019 |url-status=live }} Numerous refugees remain in local refugee camps. Conditions there are reported to be severe, especially during the winter.[https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-syria/winter-threatens-the-idps-in-the-washokani-camp-39991 Winter threatens the IDPs in the Washokani Camp] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211032029/https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-syria/winter-threatens-the-idps-in-the-washokani-camp-39991 |date=11 December 2019 }}.For the displaced people in northern and eastern Syria, winter is a torture: many set up for those seeking shelter have already collapsed due to rain and wind. Almost all international aid organisations are watching the misery. ANF HESEKÊ Tuesday, 10 December 2019.[https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/12/syria-oil-smuggling-hyena-sdf-deir-ezzor-tankers.html Residents in northeast Syria brace for winter as oil smugglers thrive] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219144104/https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/12/syria-oil-smuggling-hyena-sdf-deir-ezzor-tankers.html |date=19 December 2019 }}, by Dan Wilkofsky 18 December 2019. In 2019, 4,000 people were housed at the Washokani Camp. The Kurdish Red Cross was the only organization known to have helped the camp's refugees. Numerous camp residents called for assistance from international groups.[https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-syria/over-3500-refugees-accommodated-in-the-washokani-camp-39924 Over 3500 refugees accommodated in the Washokani camp] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211162619/https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-syria/over-3500-refugees-accommodated-in-the-washokani-camp-39924 |date=11 December 2019 }}. The Washokani camp, set up by the autonomous administration of North-East Syria near Hesekê, now hosts 3566 people who have fled the Turkish occupation troops in Serêkaniyê. ANF HESEKÊ Saturday, 7 December 2019.[https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-syria/no-help-for-people-displaced-by-the-turkish-invasion-39771 No help for people displaced by the Turkish invasion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211162755/https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-syria/no-help-for-people-displaced-by-the-turkish-invasion-39771 |date=11 December 2019 }}. More than 2,500 people now live in the northern Syrian camp Washokani who had to flee due to the Turkish occupation war. No help has arrived from international organisations yet. ANF HESEKE Sunday, 1 December 2019.

On 30 December 2019, over 50 Syrian refugees, including 27 children, were welcomed in Ireland, where they started afresh in their new temporary homes at the Mosney Accommodation Centre in Co Meath. The migrant refugees were pre-interviewed by Irish officials under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP).{{cite web|url=https://www.herald.ie/news/fifty-syrian-refugees-promised-the-warmest-of-irish-welcomes-38823817.html|title=Fifty Syrian refugees promised the warmest of Irish welcomes |last=Bray |first=Allison |website=Herald.ie|language=en|access-date=31 December 2019|archive-date=31 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231114213/https://www.herald.ie/news/fifty-syrian-refugees-promised-the-warmest-of-irish-welcomes-38823817.html|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Return of refugees of the Syrian civil war}}

Another aspect of the post-war years will be how to repatriate the millions of refugees. The Syrian government has put forward a law commonly known as "law 10", which could strip refugees of property, such as damaged real estate. There are also fears among some refugees that if they return to claim this property they will face negative consequences, such as forced conscription or prison. The Syrian government has been criticized for using this law to reward those who have supported the government. However, the government said this statement was false and has expressed that it wants the return of refugees from Lebanon.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/26/10m-syrians-at-risk-of-forfeiting-homes-under-new-property-law|title=10m Syrians at risk of forfeiting homes under new property law|first=Martin|last=Chulov|date=26 April 2018|website=The Guardian|access-date=2 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625021708/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/26/10m-syrians-at-risk-of-forfeiting-homes-under-new-property-law|archive-date=25 June 2018|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/syria-wants-its-citizens-in-lebanon-to-return-help-rebuild/|title=Syria wants its citizens in Lebanon to return, help rebuild|website=Fox News|date=4 June 2018|access-date=2 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624232804/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/06/04/syria-wants-its-citizens-in-lebanon-to-return-help-rebuild.html|archive-date=24 June 2018|url-status=live}} In December 2018, it was also reported that the Syrian government has started to seize property under an anti-terrorism law, which is affecting government opponents negatively, with many losing their property. Some people's pensions have also been cancelled.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-property-idUSKBN1OB0H3|title=Syrian state seizes opponents' property, rights activists say|newspaper=Reuters|date=12 December 2018|access-date=20 December 2018|via=reuters.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220230542/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-property-idUSKBN1OB0H3|archive-date=20 December 2018|url-status=live|last1=Nehme|first1=Dahlia}}

Erdogan said that Turkey expects to resettle about 1{{spaces}}million refugees in the "buffer zone" that it controls.[https://wsau.com/news/articles/2019/dec/17/erdogan-urges-resettling-of-one-million-refugees-in-northern-syria-peace-zone/967200/?refer-section=world Erdogan says world cares more about Syria's oil than its children] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200211192144/https://wsau.com/news/articles/2019/dec/17/erdogan-urges-resettling-of-one-million-refugees-in-northern-syria-peace-zone/967200/?refer-section=world |date=11 February 2020 }}

Tuesday, 17 December 2019.[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/erdogan-urges-resettling-1-million-refugees-northern-syria-191217100317971.html Erdogan urges resettling of 1 million refugees in northern Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217145212/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/erdogan-urges-resettling-1-million-refugees-northern-syria-191217100317971.html |date=17 December 2019 }}. Turkish president says formula needed to allow refugees to return on a voluntary basis but in 'short period of time'.[https://www.dw.com/en/migrant-arrivals-in-europe-from-turkey-nearly-double-in-2019/a-51702064 Migrant arrivals in Europe from Turkey nearly double in 2019] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217170029/https://www.dw.com/en/migrant-arrivals-in-europe-from-turkey-nearly-double-in-2019/a-51702064 |date=17 December 2019 }}. According to a confidential EU report, 70,000 migrants have crossed from Turkey to the EU this year. The numbers raise questions about whether an EU-Turkey refugee deal is unravelling.[https://thehill.com/policy/international/europe/474863-turkeys-erdogan-calls-for-resettlement-of-1m-refugees-in-northern Turkish President Erdoğan calls for resettlement of 1M refugees in northern Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218020607/https://thehill.com/policy/international/europe/474863-turkeys-erdogan-calls-for-resettlement-of-1m-refugees-in-northern |date=18 December 2019 }} BY MARTY JOHNSON – 12/17/19. Erdogan claimed that Turkey had spent billions on approximately five million refugees now being housed in Turkey; and called for more funding from wealthier nations and from the EU.{{refn|Multiple sources:

• [https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/lack-refugee-aid-forced-turkey-syria-operation-erdogan-12191402 Lack of refugee aid forced Turkey into Syria operation: Erdogan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218020301/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/lack-refugee-aid-forced-turkey-syria-operation-erdogan-12191402 |date=18 December 2019 }}, 17 December 2019.
• [https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2019/12/17/erdogan-return-of-syrian-refugees-as-crucial-as-fight-against-terrorism Erdoğan: Return of Syrian refugees as crucial as fight against terrorism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218020459/https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2019/12/17/erdogan-return-of-syrian-refugees-as-crucial-as-fight-against-terrorism |date=18 December 2019 }}. Daily Sabah with AFP, Istanbul, 17 December 2019.
• [https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/12/erdogan-renew-call-safe-zone-syria.html Erdogan renews call for 'safe zone' support as Syrians return] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218020658/https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/12/erdogan-renew-call-safe-zone-syria.html |date=18 December 2019 }}, Ayla Jean Yackley 17 December 2019.
• [https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-says-eu-should-increase-funding-syrian-refugees-beyond-66bn-pledged Turkey says EU should increase funding of Syrian refugees beyond $6.6bn pledged] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217170022/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-says-eu-should-increase-funding-syrian-refugees-beyond-66bn-pledged |date=17 December 2019 }}.EU funds support 3.5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, as Syria's civil war has killed hundreds of thousands and pushed millions from their homes.
• [https://ahvalnews.com/migrants/migrant-wave-calls-eu-turkey-deal-question-report Migrant wave calls EU-Turkey deal into question – report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217170029/https://ahvalnews.com/migrants/migrant-wave-calls-eu-turkey-deal-question-report |date=17 December 2019 }}. 17 December 2019 The number of migrants crossing from Turkey into Europe doubled in 2019 to 70,000, raising questions about whether the 2016 EU-Turkey migrant deal is still effective, Deutsche Welle reported, citing a confidential EU report.
• [https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191215-turkish-official-says-eu-should-boost-funding-of-syrian-refugees/ Turkish official says EU should boost funding of Syrian refugees] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218020459/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191215-turkish-official-says-eu-should-boost-funding-of-syrian-refugees/ |date=18 December 2019 }} 15 December 2019.}} This plan raised concerns amongst Kurds about displacement of existing communities and groups in that area.

{{Main|Internally displaced persons in Syria}}

The violence in Syria caused millions to flee their homes. As of March 2015, Al-Jazeera estimated 10.9{{spaces}}million Syrians, or almost half the population, have been displaced. Violence in the ongoing crisis in northwest Syria had forced 6,500 children to flee every day over the last week of January 2020. The recorded count of displaced children in the area has reached more than 300,000 since December 2019.{{cite news|url=https://localnews8.com/news/2020/02/02/children-bearing-the-brunt-of-last-escalation-in-syrian-civil-war/|title=Children bearing the brunt of latest escalation in Syrian civil war|agency=CNN|date=2 February 2020|website=Local News 8|language=en-US|access-date=2 February 2020|archive-date=2 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202135150/https://localnews8.com/news/2020/02/02/children-bearing-the-brunt-of-last-escalation-in-syrian-civil-war/|url-status=live}}

As of 2022, there are 6.2 million internally displaced persons in Syria according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 2.5 million of those are children. 2017 alone saw the displacement of at least 1.8 million people, many of them being displaced for the second and third time.{{Cite web|title=Internally Displaced People|url=https://www.unhcr.org/sy/internally-displaced-people|access-date=18 January 2022|website=UNHCR Syria|language=en}}

Hundreds of boys are being held hostage by ISIS. As of 25 January 2022, The New York Times stated that the fight over a prison in northeastern Syria has brought attention to the plight of thousands of foreign children who were brought to Syria by their parents to join the Islamic State caliphate and have been detained for three years in camps and prisons in the region, abandoned by their home countries.{{Cite news |title=ISIS is holding hundreds of boys hostage. Who are they? |newspaper=The New York Times |date=25 January 2022 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/25/world/syria-news-isis-us#isis-is-holding-hundreds-of-boys-hostage-who-are-they |last=Arraf |first=Jane |archive-date=5 March 2022 |access-date=5 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305221614/https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/01/25/world/syria-news-isis-us#isis-is-holding-hundreds-of-boys-hostage-who-are-they |url-status=live }}

An estimated 40,000 foreigners, including children, travelled to Syria to fight for the caliphate or work for it. Thousands of them had brought their small children with them. There were also other children born there. When ISIS lost control of the last piece of territory in Syria, Baghuz, three years ago, surviving women and young children were detained in{{spaces}}camps, while suspected militants and boys, some as young as 10, were imprisoned.

Furthermore, when the boys in the camps reach the age of adolescence, they are usually transferred to Hasaka's Sinaa prison, where they are packed into overcrowded cells with no access to sunlight. According to prison guards in the area, there is insufficient food and medical attention. When the boys reach the age of 18, they are sent to the regular prison population, where wounded ISIS members are placed three to a bed.

{{Main|Casualties of the Syrian civil war}}

File:Total deaths during the syrian civil war (October 2013).png

On 2 January 2013, the United Nations stated that 60,000 had been killed since the civil war began, with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay saying "The number of casualties is much higher than we expected, and is truly shocking".{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/02/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html |title=U.N.'s Syria death toll jumps dramatically to 60,000-plus |date=3 January 2013 |publisher=CNN |access-date=29 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128123934/http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/02/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html |archive-date=28 January 2013 |url-status=live}} Four months later, the UN's updated figure for the death toll had reached 80,000.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22886730 |title=Syria death toll at least 93,000, says UN |work=BBC News |date=13 June 2013 |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831134623/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22886730 |archive-date=31 August 2018 |url-status=live}} On 13 June 2013, the UN released an updated figure of people killed since fighting began, the figure being exactly 92,901, for up to the end of April 2013. Navi Pillay, UN high commissioner for human rights, stated that: "This is most likely a minimum casualty figure". The real toll was guessed to be over 100,000.{{cite web |url=http://www.timesofoman.com/News/Article-20325.aspx |title=More than 2,000 killed in Syria since Ramadan began |work=Times of Oman |date=25 July 2013 |access-date=27 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904081753/http://www.timesofoman.com/News/Article-20325.aspx |archive-date=4 September 2013}}{{cite news |title=U.N. says Syria death toll has likely surpassed 100,000 |url=https://latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-un-syria-death-toll-20130613,0,2953708.story |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=13 June 2013 |first=Patrick J. |last=McDonnell |access-date=13 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130712040500/http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-un-syria-death-toll-20130613,0,2953708.story |archive-date=12 July 2013 |url-status=live}} Some areas of the country have been affected disproportionately by the war; by some estimates, as many as a third of all deaths have occurred in the city of Homs.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21228039 |title=Syria crisis: Solidarity amid suffering in Homs |publisher=BBC |date=29 January 2013 |access-date=29 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130129014319/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21228039 |archive-date=29 January 2013 |url-status=live}}

One problem has been determining the number of "armed combatants" who have died, due to many sources counting rebel fighters who were not government defectors as civilians.{{cite web |last=Enders |first=David |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/11/06/173808/deaths-in-syria-down-from-peak.html |title=Deaths in Syria down from peak; army casualties outpacing rebels' |date=6 November 2012 |access-date=14 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113181246/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/11/06/173808/deaths-in-syria-down-from-peak.html |archive-date=13 November 2012 |url-status=dead}} At least half of those confirmed killed have been estimated to be combatants from both sides, including 52,290 government fighters and 29,080 rebels, with an additional 50,000 unconfirmed combatant deaths.{{cite web|url=http://syriahr.com/en/2015/03/15099/|title=The international community let the Syrian people down; millions of people killed, wounded and displaced over 4 years|publisher=The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights|date=15 March 2015|access-date=3 September 2023|archive-date=22 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122132926/http://www.syriahr.com/en/2015/03/15099/|url-status=live}} In addition, UNICEF reported that over 500 children had been killed by early February 2012,{{cite news |url=http://www.arabnews.com/node/405908 |title=400 children killed in Syria unrest |newspaper=Arab News |date=8 February 2012 |access-date=28 January 2013 |location=Geneva |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030115934/http://www6.arabnews.com/node/405908 |archive-date=30 October 2012 |url-status=live}} and another 400 children have been reportedly arrested and tortured in Syrian prisons;{{cite news |last=Peralta |first=Eyder |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/02/03/146346490/rights-group-says-syrian-security-forces-detained-tortured-children |title=Rights Group Says Syrian Security Forces Detained, Tortured Children: The Two-Way |newspaper=NPR |date=3 February 2012 |access-date=5 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427232713/http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/02/03/146346490/rights-group-says-syrian-security-forces-detained-tortured-children |archive-date=27 April 2015 |url-status=live}} both of these reports have been contested by the Syrian government. Additionally, over 600 detainees and political prisoners are known to have died under torture.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/world/middleeast/hundreds-tortured-in-syria-human-rights-group-says.html |work=The New York Times |first=Kareem |last=Fahim |title=Hundreds Tortured in Syria, Human Rights Group Says |date=5 January 2012 |access-date=12 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513032839/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/06/world/middleeast/hundreds-tortured-in-syria-human-rights-group-says.html |archive-date=13 May 2013 |url-status=live}} In mid-October 2012, the pro-opposition monitoring group SOHR reported the number of children killed in the conflict had risen to 2,300,{{cite web |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160978 |title=Fighting Continues in Syria |publisher=Arutz Sheva |date=16 October 2012 |access-date=25 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018001122/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160978 |archive-date=18 October 2012 |url-status=live}} and in March 2013, opposition sources stated that over 5,000 children had been killed.{{cite web |url=http://www.vdc-sy.org/index.php/en/home |title=Statistics for the number of martyrs |date=3 June 2013 |publisher=Violations Documentation Center in Syria |access-date=26 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303155835/http://www.vdc-sy.org/index.php/en/home |archive-date=3 March 2013 |url-status=live}}{{better source needed|date=October 2019}} In January 2014, a report was released detailing the systematic killing of more than 11,000 detainees of the Syrian government.{{cite web|first=Ian |last=Black |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/20/evidence-industrial-scale-killing-syria-war-crimes |title=Syrian regime document trove shows evidence of 'industrial scale' killing of detainees |work=The Guardian |date=21 January 2014|access-date=21 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203161117/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/20/evidence-industrial-scale-killing-syria-war-crimes?view=desktop |archive-date=3 February 2014 |url-status=live}}

File:Wounded civilians arrive at hospital Aleppo.jpg

File:Barış Pınarı harekâtı sonrası Kamışlı'da yaralandıktan sonra bir ayağı kesilen diğer ayağı da kırılan 8 yaşındaki Sarah.jpg who lost her leg during the Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria in October 2019]]

On 20 August 2014, a new U.N. study concluded that at least 191,369 people have died in the Syrian conflict.{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/22/world/meast/syria-conflict/index.html?hpt=imi_c2 |title=More than 191,000 dead in Syria conflict, U.N. finds |author=Laura Smith-Spark |date=22 August 2014 |publisher=CNN |access-date=1 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411102510/http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/22/world/meast/syria-conflict/index.html?hpt=imi_c2 |archive-date=11 April 2015 |url-status=live}} The UN thereafter stopped collecting statistics, but a study by the Syrian Centre for Policy Research released in February 2016 estimated the death toll to be 470,000, with 1.9m wounded (reaching a total of 11.5% of the entire population either wounded or killed).{{Cite news |title=Report on Syria conflict finds 11.5% of population killed or injured |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/11/report-on-syria-conflict-finds-115-of-population-killed-or-injured |newspaper=The Guardian |date=11 February 2016 |access-date=11 February 2016 |first=Ian |last=Black |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160211082555/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/11/report-on-syria-conflict-finds-115-of-population-killed-or-injured |archive-date=11 February 2016 |url-status=live}} A report by the pro-opposition SNHR in 2018 mentioned 82,000 victims that had been forcibly disappeared by the Syrian government, added to 14,000 confirmed deaths due to torture.{{cite web |title=By Acknowledging the Death of 836 Forcibly-Disappeared Syrians at its hands, the Syrian Regime Convicts itself, yet the Security Council Does Nothing |url=http://sn4hr.org/wp-content/pdf/english/By_Acknowledging_the_Death_of_836_Forcibly_Disappeared_Syrians_at_its_hands_the_Syrian_Regime_Convicts_itself_en.pdf |website=sn4hr.org |quote=Approximately 82,000 Forcibly Disappeared and 14,000 Died due to Torture at the hands of the Syrian Regime |access-date=1 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701110829/http://sn4hr.org/wp-content/pdf/english/By_Acknowledging_the_Death_of_836_Forcibly_Disappeared_Syrians_at_its_hands_the_Syrian_Regime_Convicts_itself_en.pdf |archive-date=1 July 2019 |url-status=live}} According to various war monitors, Syrian Armed Forces and pro-Assad forces has been responsible for over 90% of the total civilian casualties in the civil war.{{efn|Sources:{{Cite news |date=20 June 2022 |title=Assad, Iran, Russia committed 91% of civilian killings in Syria |work=Middle East Monitor |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220620-assad-iran-russia-committed-91-of-civilian-killings-in-syria/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230104153837/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220620-assad-iran-russia-committed-91-of-civilian-killings-in-syria/ |archive-date=4 January 2023}}{{cite web |date=September 2022 |title=Civilian Death Toll |url=https://snhr.org/blog/2021/06/14/civilian-death-toll/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305114908/https://snhr.org/blog/2021/06/14/civilian-death-toll/ |archive-date=5 March 2022 |website=SNHR}}{{cite news |date=19 June 2022 |title=91 percent of civilian deaths caused by Syrian regime and Russian forces: rights group |work=The New Arab |url=https://www.newarab.com/news/syria-regime-and-russia-caused-91-deaths-report |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105112752/https://www.newarab.com/news/syria-regime-and-russia-caused-91-deaths-report |archive-date=5 January 2023}}{{Cite web |title=2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Syria |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/syria/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702114009/https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/syria/ |archive-date=2 July 2022 |website=U.S Department of State}}{{cite web |date=11 January 2015 |title=In Syria's Civilian Death Toll, The Islamic State Group, Or ISIS, Is A Far Smaller Threat Than Bashar Assad |url=https://www.syriahr.com/en/9311/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220406183001/https://www.syriahr.com/en/9311/ |archive-date=6 April 2022 |website=SOHR}}{{cite web |date=11 March 2021 |title=Assad's War on the Syrian People Continues |url=https://www.syriahr.com/en/208389/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313163249/https://www.syriahr.com/en/208389/ |archive-date=13 March 2021 |website=SOHR}}{{cite web |last=Roth |first=Kenneth |date=9 January 2017 |title=Barack Obama's Shaky Legacy on Human Rights |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/01/09/barack-obamas-shaky-legacy-human-rights |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202082511/https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/01/09/barack-obamas-shaky-legacy-human-rights |archive-date=2 February 2021 |website=Human Rights Watch}}{{cite web |title=The Regional War in Syria: Summary of Caabu event with Christopher Phillips |url=https://www.caabu.org/news/news/regional-war-syria-summary-caabu-event-christopher-phillips |website=Council for Arab-British Understanding |access-date=7 February 2023 |archive-date=9 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209022611/https://www.caabu.org/news/news/regional-war-syria-summary-caabu-event-christopher-phillips |url-status=live }}}}

On 15 April 2017, a convoy of buses carrying evacuees from the besieged Shia towns of al-Fu'ah and Kafriya, which were surrounded by the Army of Conquest,{{Cite news|title=Madaya: The two other Syrian villages where 20,000 people have been starving under rebel siege|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/madaya-the-two-other-syrian-villages-where-20000-people-have-been-starving-under-rebel-siege-a6807941.html|date=12 January 2016|work=The Independent|first=Lizzie|last=Dearden|access-date=20 July 2020|archive-date=20 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720200424/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/madaya-the-two-other-syrian-villages-where-20000-people-have-been-starving-under-rebel-siege-a6807941.html|url-status=live}} was attacked by a suicide bomber west of Aleppo,{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39609288|title=Syria war: Huge bomb kills dozens of evacuees in Syria|date=15 April 2017|work=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=20 July 2020|archive-date=10 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190910060938/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-39609288|url-status=live}} killing more than 126 people, including at least 80 children.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-17/syrian-bus-bombing-kills-at-least-80-children/8447104|title='A new horror': 80 children among those slaughtered in suicide attack on refugee convoy|date=17 April 2017|work=ABC News|language=en-AU|access-date=20 July 2020|archive-date=3 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503042731/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-17/syrian-bus-bombing-kills-at-least-80-children/8447104|url-status=live}} On 1 January 2020, at least eight civilians, including four children, were killed in a rocket attack on a school in Idlib by Syrian government forces, the Syrian Human Rights Observatory (SOHR) said.{{cite news |title=Four Syrian children killed in New Year's Day attack on school |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/syrian-children-killed-year-day-attack-school-200101152952912.html |access-date=18 August 2020 |work=aljazeera.com |date=1 January 2020 |archive-date=2 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200302220530/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/syrian-children-killed-year-day-attack-school-200101152952912.html |url-status=live }}

In January 2020, UNICEF warned that children were bearing the brunt of escalating violence in northwestern Syria. More than 500 children were wounded or killed during the first three quarters of 2019, and over 65 children fell victim to the war in December alone.{{cite web|url=https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/21848/children-in-syria-bearing-brunt-of-intensifying-violence-unicef|title=Children in Syria bearing brunt of intensifying violence, UNICEF|date=2 January 2020|website=InfoMigrants|language=en|access-date=4 January 2020|archive-date=2 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102150339/https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/21848/children-in-syria-bearing-brunt-of-intensifying-violence-unicef|url-status=live}}

Over 380,000 people have been killed since the war in Syria started nine years ago, war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on 4 January 2020. The death toll comprises civilians, government soldiers, militia members and foreign troops.{{cite web|url=https://www.livemint.com/news/world/syria-death-toll-tops-380-000-in-almost-nine-year-war-monitor-11578143112160.html|title=The death toll in Syria has exceeded 380,000 in almost nine years: Monitor|last=Naquin|first=Leora|date=4 January 2020|website=Technoea News|language=en-US|access-date=5 January 2020|archive-date=5 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200105131716/https://www.livemint.com/news/world/syria-death-toll-tops-380-000-in-almost-nine-year-war-monitor-11578143112160.html|url-status=live}}

In an airstrike by Russian forces loyal to the Syrian government, at least five civilians were killed, out of which four belonged to the same family. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claimed that the death toll included three children following the attack in the Idlib region on 18 January 2020.{{cite web|url=https://www.brecorder.com/2020/01/18/562799/russia-strike-kill-five-civilians-in-northwest-syria/|title=Russia strike kill five civilians in northwest Syria |date=18 January 2020|website=Business Recorder|language=en-US|access-date=18 January 2020|archive-date=13 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513151819/https://www.brecorder.com/2020/01/18/562799/russia-strike-kill-five-civilians-in-northwest-syria/|url-status=live}}

On 30 January 2020, Russian airstrikes on a hospital and a bakery killed over 10 civilians in Syria's Idlib region. Moscow immediately rejected the allegation.{{cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/civilians-killed-in-syria-air-strikes-russia-denies-involvement/30406882.html|title=At Least 10 Civilians Reported Killed In Syria Air Strikes; Russia Denies Involvement|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=30 January 2020 |language=en|access-date=30 January 2020|archive-date=30 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130133947/https://www.rferl.org/a/civilians-killed-in-syria-air-strikes-russia-denies-involvement/30406882.html|url-status=live}}

On 23 June 2020, Israeli raids killed seven fighters, including two Syrian in a central province. State media cited a military official as saying the attack targeted posts in rural areas of Hama province.{{cite web|url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syria-reports-israeli-raids-on-central-south-military-posts/2020/06/24/5b9184de-b5db-11ea-9a1d-d3db1cbe07ce_story.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200625044543/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syria-reports-israeli-raids-on-central-south-military-posts/2020/06/24/5b9184de-b5db-11ea-9a1d-d3db1cbe07ce_story.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= 25 June 2020|title= Seven killed in Israeli strikes on Syria – monitor|access-date=23 June 2020|website=The Washingtonpost}}

Just four days after the start of 2022, two children were killed and five others injured in northwest Syria. In 2021 alone, over 70% of violent attacks against children have been recorded in the region.{{Cite web|title=Two children killed and five injured in Syria as the new year starts|url=https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/two-children-killed-and-five-injured-syria-new-year-starts|access-date=18 January 2022|website=unicef.org|language=en|archive-date=18 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118212810/https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/two-children-killed-and-five-injured-syria-new-year-starts|url-status=live}}

On 14 January 2022, one person was killed by a car bomb and several others were wounded in the city of Azaz in northwest Syria, three people were wounded at a marketplace in a suspected suicide bombing in the town of al Bab and another suicide bomb went off in the city of Afrin at a roundabout.{{Cite news|date=13 January 2022|title=Suspected suicide bombers strike in northwest Syria near Turkish border|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/bomb-blast-kills-one-syrian-border-city-wounds-several-2022-01-13/|access-date=14 January 2022|archive-date=14 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114231341/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/bomb-blast-kills-one-syrian-border-city-wounds-several-2022-01-13/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Human rights violations during the Syrian civil war|Human rights in Syria}}

{{See also|Syrian mass graves|Human rights in Islamic State-controlled territory|List of massacres during the Syrian civil war|Rape during the Syrian civil war|Use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war|Prosecution of Syrian civil war criminals}}

File:Ghouta massacre1.JPG perpetrated by Syrian regime forces in August 2013]]

United Nations and human rights organizations have asserted that human rights violations have been committed by both the government and the rebel forces, with the "vast majority of the abuses having been committed by the Syrian government".{{cite web |url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130313/un-must-refer-syria-war-crimes-icc-amnesty |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816193917/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130313/un-must-refer-syria-war-crimes-icc-amnesty |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 August 2013 |title=UN must refer Syria war crimes to ICC: Amnesty |work=GlobalPost |access-date=20 March 2014}} Numerous human rights abuses, political repression, war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Assad government throughout the course of the conflict has led to international condemnation and widespread calls to convict Bashar al-Assad in the International Criminal Court (ICC).{{Efn|Sources:{{Cite book |last=Robertson |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Robertson |title=Crimes Against Humanity: The Struggle for Global Justice |publisher=The New Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-59558-860-9 |edition=4th |location=New York, NY, USA |pages=560–562, 573, 595–607 |chapter=11: Justice in Demand}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SdxEAQAAMAAJ&dq=Assad+crimes+against+humanity&pg=PA229 |title=Syria Freedom Support Act; Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2011 |publisher=Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives |year=2012 |location=Washington D.C., USA |pages=221–229}}{{Cite news |last=Vohra |first=Anchal |date=16 October 2020 |title=Assad's Horrible War Crimes Are Finally Coming to Light Under Oath |work=Foreign Policy |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/10/16/assads-horrible-war-crimes-are-finally-coming-to-light/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102212057/https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/10/16/assads-horrible-war-crimes-are-finally-coming-to-light/ |archive-date=2 November 2020}}{{Cite news |date=13 January 2022 |title=German court finds Assad regime official guilty of crimes against humanity |work=Daily Sabah |url=https://www.dailysabah.com/world/syrian-crisis/german-court-finds-assad-regime-official-guilty-of-crimes-against-humanity |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122082145/https://www.dailysabah.com/world/syrian-crisis/german-court-finds-assad-regime-official-guilty-of-crimes-against-humanity |archive-date=22 January 2022}}{{Cite web |last=Martina Nosakhare |first=Whitney |date=15 March 2022 |title=Some Hope in the Struggle for Justice in Syria: European Courts Offer Survivors a Path Toward Accountability |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/15/some-hope-struggle-justice-syria |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405071705/https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/03/15/some-hope-struggle-justice-syria |archive-date=5 April 2022 |website=Human Rights Watch}}}} The unprecedented scale of the atrocities launched by government forces since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution has led to international outrage, and Syria's membership was suspended from various international organizations.{{Cite news |last=Debusmann |first=Bernd |date=17 May 2023 |title=How Syria's Bashar al-Assad got away with murder |work=WION |url=https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/how-syrias-bashar-al-assad-got-away-with-murder-593114 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517135043/https://www.wionews.com/opinions-blogs/how-syrias-bashar-al-assad-got-away-with-murder-593114 |archive-date=17 May 2023}}{{Cite news |last=Pelley |first=Scott |date=11 July 2021 |title=The evidence of Syrian President Bashar Assad and his regime's legacy of war crimes |work=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bashar-al-assad-syria-evidence-war-crimes-60-minutes-2021-07-11/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230514055904/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bashar-al-assad-syria-evidence-war-crimes-60-minutes-2021-07-11/ |archive-date=14 May 2023}}

According to three international lawyers,Sir Desmond de Silva QC, former chief prosecutor of the special court for Sierra Leone, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, the former lead prosecutor of former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milošević, and Professor David Crane, who indicted President Charles Taylor of Liberia at the Sierra Leone court Syrian government officials could face war crimes charges in the light of a huge cache of evidence smuggled out of the country showing the "systematic killing" of about 11,000 detainees. Most of the victims were young men and many corpses were emaciated, bloodstained and bore signs of torture. Some had no eyes; others showed signs of strangulation or electrocution.{{cite web |url=http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/photo-gallery/syria-army-defectors-photos |title=foreignaffairs.house.gov |access-date=2 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006083709/http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/photo-gallery/syria-army-defectors-photos |archive-date=6 October 2014}} Experts said this evidence was more detailed and on a far larger scale than anything else that had emerged from the then 34-month crisis.{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/20/world/syria-torture-photos-amanpour/ |title=EXCLUSIVE: Gruesome Syria photos may prove torture by Assad regime |date=21 January 2014 |publisher=CNN |access-date=21 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122155626/http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/20/world/syria-torture-photos-amanpour/ |archive-date=22 January 2014 |url-status=live}} Atrocities committed by the Assad regime have been described as the "greatest war crimes of the 21st century", with chilling revelations of torture, rapes, massacres and extermination being leaked through the 2014 Caesar Report, which contained photographic evidence gathered by a dissident army photographer who worked in Ba'athist military prisons. According to international lawyer Stephen Rapp:

We've got better evidence—against Assad and his clique—than we had against Milosevic in Yugoslavia, or we had in any of the war crimes tribunals in which I've involved in, some extent, even better than we had against the Nazis at Nuremberg, because the Nazis didn't actually take individual pictures of each of their victims with identifying information on them.

The UN reported in 2014 that "siege warfare is employed in a context of egregious human rights and international humanitarian law violations. The warring parties do not fear being held accountable for their acts". Armed forces of both sides of the conflict blocked access to humanitarian convoys, confiscated food, cut off water supplies and targeted farmers working their fields. The report pointed to four places besieged by the government forces: Muadamiyah, Daraya, Yarmouk camp and Old City of Homs, as well as two areas under siege of rebel groups: Aleppo and Hama.{{cite web |url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session25/Documents/A-HRC-25-65_en.doc |title=Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic |date=12 February 2014 |access-date=7 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521155230/http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session25/Documents/A-HRC-25-65_en.doc |archive-date=21 May 2014 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.thenewage.co.za/120337-1020-53-UN_decries_use_of_sieges_starvation_in_Syrian_military_strategy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713014155/http://www.thenewage.co.za/120337-1020-53-UN_decries_use_of_sieges_starvation_in_Syrian_military_strategy |archive-date=13 July 2015 |url-status=dead |title=UN decries use of sieges, starvation in Syrian military strategy | The New Age Online |work=The New Age|location=South Africa |date=5 March 2014 |access-date=20 March 2014}} In Yarmouk Camp 20,000 residents faced death by starvation due to blockade by the Syrian government forces and fighting between the army and Jabhat al-Nusra, which prevents food distribution by UNRWA.{{cite news |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/03/3971810/yarmouk-update-nusras-apparent.html |title=Yarmouk update: Nusra's apparent return complicates UNRWA's hopes for food program |date=3 March 2014 |access-date=6 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306193840/http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/03/3971810/yarmouk-update-nusras-apparent.html |archive-date=6 March 2014 |url-status=live}} In July 2015, the UN removed Yarmouk from its list of besieged areas in Syria, despite not having been able deliver aid there for four months, and declined to say why it had done so.{{cite news |last=Dyke |first=Joe |date=24 July 2015 |title=Yarmouk camp no longer besieged, UN rules |url=http://www.irinnews.org/report/101781/yarmouk-camp-no-longer-besieged-un-rules |agency=IRIN |access-date=28 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150727021032/http://www.irinnews.org/report/101781/yarmouk-camp-no-longer-besieged-un-rules |archive-date=27 July 2015 |url-status=live}} After intense fighting in April/May 2018, Syrian government forces finally took the camp, its population now reduced to 100–200.[https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/5/23/syrian-cleric-condemns-flagrant-looting-after-regime-captured-yarmouk Syrian cleric condemns 'flagrant looting' after regime captured Yarmouk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726233511/https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/5/23/syrian-cleric-condemns-flagrant-looting-after-regime-captured-yarmouk |date=26 July 2018 }}, Al-Araby 24 May 2018

ISIS forces have also been criticized by the UN of using public executions and killing of captives, amputations and lashings in a campaign to instill fear. "Forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham have committed torture, murder, acts tantamount to enforced disappearance and forced displacement as part of attacks on the civilian population in Aleppo and Raqqa governorates, amounting to crimes against humanity", said the report from 27 August 2014.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/27/syria-isis-war-crimes-united-nations-un |title=Syria and Isis committing war crimes, says UN |date=27 August 2014 |work=The Guardian |access-date=29 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140828220905/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/27/syria-isis-war-crimes-united-nations-un |archive-date=28 August 2014 |url-status=live}} ISIS also persecuted gay and bisexual men.{{cite news |title=Under ISIS: Where Being Gay Is Punished by Death |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/isis-gay-punished-death/story?id=39826182 |work=ABC News |date=13 June 2016 |access-date=20 July 2020 |archive-date=20 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720233816/https://abcnews.go.com/International/isis-gay-punished-death/story?id=39826182 |url-status=live }}

Enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions have also been a feature since the Syrian uprising began.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29653526 |title=syrias disappeared |date=11 November 2014 |access-date=11 November 2014 |work=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111153912/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29653526 |archive-date=11 November 2014 |url-status=live}} An Amnesty International report, published in November 2015, stated the Syrian government has forcibly disappeared more than 65,000 people since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11976494/Amnesty-accuses-Syrian-regime-of-disappearing-tens-of-thousands.html |title=Amnesty accuses Syrian regime of 'disappearing' tens of thousands |work=The Daily Telegraph |last=Loveluck |first=Louisa |date=5 November 2015 |access-date=30 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427133904/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/11976494/Amnesty-accuses-Syrian-regime-of-disappearing-tens-of-thousands.html |archive-date=27 April 2016 |url-status=live}} According to a report in May 2016 by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 60,000 people have been killed since March 2011 through torture or from poor humanitarian conditions in Syrian government prisons.[http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/05/tens-thousands-die-syria-government-prisons-160521173306410.html Monitor: 60,000 dead in Syria government jails] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522125646/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/05/tens-thousands-die-syria-government-prisons-160521173306410.html |date=22 May 2016}} Al Jazeera

In February 2017, Amnesty International published a report which stated the Syrian government murdered an estimated 13,000 persons, mostly civilians, at the Saydnaya military prison. They stated the killings began in 2011 and were still ongoing. Amnesty International described this as a "policy of deliberate extermination" and also stated that "These practices, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, are authorised at the highest levels of the Syrian government".{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/syria-13000-secretly-hanged-saydnaya-military-prison-shocking-new-report |title=Syria: 13,000 secretly hanged in Saydnaya military prison – shocking new report |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=21 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222043232/https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/syria-13000-secretly-hanged-saydnaya-military-prison-shocking-new-report |archive-date=22 February 2017 |url-status=live}} Three months later, the United States State Department stated a crematorium had been identified near the prison. According to the US, it was being used to burn thousands of bodies of those killed by the government's forces and to cover up evidence of atrocities and war crimes.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-accuses-syria-of-killing-thousands-of-prisoners-and-burning-the-dead-bodies-in-large-crematorium-outside-damascus/2017/05/15/7cf95c30-3985-11e7-a59b-26e0451a96fd_story.html |title=US accuses Syria of killing thousands of prisoners and burning the dead bodies in large crematorium outside Damascus. |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=15 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219162710/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-accuses-syria-of-killing-thousands-of-prisoners-and-burning-the-dead-bodies-in-large-crematorium-outside-damascus/2017/05/15/7cf95c30-3985-11e7-a59b-26e0451a96fd_story.html |archive-date=19 December 2018 |url-status=dead}}
{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/world/middleeast/syria-assad-prison-crematory.html |title=Syria Prison Crematory Is Hiding Mass Executions, U.S. Says |last=Harris |first=Gardiner |date=15 May 2017 |work=The New York Times |access-date=15 May 2017 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515221921/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/world/middleeast/syria-assad-prison-crematory.html |archive-date=15 May 2017 |url-status=live}} Amnesty International expressed surprise at the reports about the crematorium, as the photographs used by the US are from 2013 and they did not see them as conclusive, and fugitive government officials have stated that the government buries those its executes in cemeteries on military grounds in Damascus.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/world/middleeast/syria-assad-prison-crematory.html |title=Syrian Crematory Is Hiding Mass Killings of Prisoners, U.S. Says |first1=Gardiner |last1=Harris |first2=Anne |last2=Barnard |date=15 May 2017 |work=The New York Times |access-date=17 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515221921/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/world/middleeast/syria-assad-prison-crematory.html |archive-date=15 May 2017 |url-status=live}} The Syrian government said the reports were not true.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

By July 2012, the human rights group Women Under Siege had documented over 100 cases of rape and sexual assault during the conflict, with many of these crimes reported to have been perpetrated by the Shabiha and other pro-government militias. Victims included men, women and children, with about 80% of the known victims being women and girls.{{cite web |url=http://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/blog/entry/the-ultimate-assault-charting-syrias-use-of-rape-to-terrorize-its-people |title=The ultimate assault: Charting Syria's use of rape to terrorize its people |publisher=Women Under Siege |date=11 July 2012 |access-date=27 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715020015/http://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/blog/entry/the-ultimate-assault-charting-syrias-use-of-rape-to-terrorize-its-people |archive-date=15 July 2012 |url-status=live}}{{better source needed|date=October 2019}}

On 11 September 2019, the UN investigators said that air strikes conducted by the US-led coalition in Syria have killed or wounded several civilians, denoting that necessary precautions were not taken leading to potential war crimes.{{cite web|url=https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/6381058/un-investigators-point-to-syria-war-crimes/|title=UN investigators point to Syria war crimes|last=Nebehay|first=Stephanie|date=11 September 2019|website=Newcastle Herald|language=en|access-date=11 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019104703/https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/6381058/un-investigators-point-to-syria-war-crimes/|archive-date=19 October 2019|url-status=live}}

File:Rojava solidarity demonstration Berlin 2019-11-02 30.jpg]]

In late 2019, as the violence intensified in northwest Syria, thousands of women and children were reportedly kept under "inhumane conditions" in a remote camp, said UN-appointed investigators.{{cite web|url=https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/666763-women-children-in-syria-continue-to-be-kept-in-inhumane-conditions-un-report|title=Women, children in Syria continue to be kept in inhumane conditions: UN report|access-date=11 September 2019|website=Devdiscourse|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019104702/https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/666763-women-children-in-syria-continue-to-be-kept-in-inhumane-conditions-un-report|archive-date=19 October 2019|url-status=live}} In October 2019, Amnesty International stated that it had gathered evidence of war crimes and other violations committed by Turkish and Turkey-backed Syrian forces who are said to "have displayed a shameful disregard for civilian life, carrying out serious violations and war crimes, including summary killings and unlawful attacks that have killed and injured civilians".

According to a 2020 report by UN-backed investigators into the Syrian civil war, young girls aged nine and above have been raped and inveigled into sexual slavery, while boys have been put through torture and forcefully trained to execute killings in public. Children have been attacked by sharpshooters and lured to be bargaining chips for ransoms.{{cite web|url=https://local12.com/news/nation-world/un-report-lays-out-agonies-faced-by-syrian-children-amid-war|title=UN report lays out agonies faced by Syrian children amid war|author=JAMEY KEATEN|agency=Associated Press|date=16 January 2020|website=WKRC|access-date=16 January 2020|archive-date=16 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116135849/https://local12.com/news/nation-world/un-report-lays-out-agonies-faced-by-syrian-children-amid-war|url-status=live}}

On 6 April 2020, the United Nations published its investigation into the attacks on humanitarian sites in Syria. In its reports, the UN said it had examined six sites of attacks and concluded that the airstrikes had been carried out by the "Government of Syria and/or its allies." However, the report was criticized for being partial towards Russia and not naming it, despite proper evidence. "The refusal to explicitly name Russia as a responsible party working alongside the Syrian government ... is deeply disappointing", the HRW quoted.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/07/un-inquiry-stops-short-of-directly-blaming-russia-over-idlib-attacks-syria |title=UN inquiry stops short of directly blaming Russia over Idlib attacks |access-date=7 April 2020|website=The Guardian|date=7 April 2020 }}

On 27 April 2020, the Syrian Network for Human Rights reported the continuation of multiple crimes in the month of March and April in Syria. The rights organization claimed that the Syrian regime killed 44 civilians, including six children, during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also said that Syrian forces held 156 people captive while committing at least of four attacks on vital civilian facilities. The report further recommended that the UN impose sanctions on the Bashar al-Assad regime if it continues to commit human rights violations.{{cite web|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/assad-regime-violence-continues-despite-coronavirus/1820593|title=Assad regime violence continues despite coronavirus|access-date=27 April 2020|website=Anadolu Agency|archive-date=3 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503043418/https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/assad-regime-violence-continues-despite-coronavirus/1820593|url-status=live}}

On 8 May 2020, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, raised serious concern that rebel groups, including ISIL terrorist fighters, may be using the COVID-19 pandemic as "an opportunity to re-group and inflict violence in the country".{{cite web|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1063562|title=Syria violence 'a ticking time-bomb that must not be ignored': UN human rights chief|access-date=8 May 2020|website=UN News|date=8 May 2020|archive-date=16 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716185639/https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1063562|url-status=live}}

On 21 July 2020, the Syrian government forces carried out an attack and killed two civilians with four Grad rockets in western al-Bab sub-district.{{cite web|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/syria-assad-regime-attack-kills-2-civilians-in-al-bab/1917153|title=Syria: Assad regime attack kills 2 civilians in al-Bab|access-date=21 July 2020|website=Anadolu Agency|archive-date=22 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722233813/https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/syria-assad-regime-attack-kills-2-civilians-in-al-bab/1917153|url-status=live}}

On 14 January 2022, in the rebel-held city of Azaz in northwest Syria, a car bomb went off killing one and wounding several bystanders. According to a rescue worker, an improvised explosive device had been housed inside a car and then the car was planted near a local transport office in the city which is close to the Turkish border. In the town of al Bab, a suicide bomb went off wounding three and in the city of Afrin, another suicide bomb went off at a roundabout. All these three bombings happened in a span of hours and minutes from each other.

According to Al-Jazeera, a rocket attack on a northern Syrian town controlled by Turkey-backed opposition fighters killed six civilians and injured more than a dozen others on 21 January 2022. According to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, it was unclear who fired the artillery shells, but the attack came from a region populated by Kurdish fighters and Syrian government forces.{{Cite web |title=Shelling on Syria's Afrin kills six civilians; dozens wounded |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/21/shelling-on-syrias-afrin-kills-six-civilians-dozens-wounded |date=21 January 2022 |website=Aljazeera.com |access-date=21 January 2022 |archive-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121221257/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/21/shelling-on-syrias-afrin-kills-six-civilians-dozens-wounded |url-status=live }}

After an attack on a Syrian jail on 23 January 2022, over 120 individuals were killed in an ongoing conflict between Kurdish-led troops and ISIL (ISIS) fighters. According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, "at least 77 IS members and 39 Kurdish fighters, including internal security forces, prison guards and counter-terrorism forces were killed" in the attack.{{Cite web |title=Syria prison attack kills more than 100, clashes ongoing |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/23/syria-prison-attack-kills-over-120-as-clashes-ongoing-monitor |date=23 January 2022 |website=Aljazeera.com |access-date=23 January 2022 |archive-date=23 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123143833/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/23/syria-prison-attack-kills-over-120-as-clashes-ongoing-monitor |url-status=live }} On 17 December 2023, eight civilians, including a pregnant woman, were killed during bombardments by the Syrian Arab Army on the town of Darat Izza. War monitor SOHR reported that pro-Assad forces deliberately perpetrated a massacre by "directly targeting residential areas, using artillery shells and rocket launchers".{{Cite web |title=Eight civilians killed by Syria army in rebel bastion |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syria-eight-civilians-killed-syria-army-rebel-bastion |access-date=17 December 2023 |website=Middle East Eye |language=en |archive-date=19 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219015335/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syria-eight-civilians-killed-syria-army-rebel-bastion |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Prosecution of Syrian civil war criminals}}

In 2022, a German court sentenced Anwar Raslan, 58, a high-ranking official of President Bashar al-Assad's regime to life imprisonment after he sought asylum in Germany and was arrested in 2019. He was charged with being complicit to the murder of at least 27 people coupled with the sexual assault and torture of at least another 4,000 people between 29 April 2011, and 7 September 2012. Raslan was a mid-level officer in Branch 251 and oversaw the torture of detainees. His trial was one of an unprecedented nature because Germany took on a trial of crimes committed in the Syrian war and the human rights lawyers took this on under the principle of "universal jurisdiction". Universal Jurisdiction is a concept in German law that allows for serious crimes to be tried in Germany even if they did not happen in the country. His co-defendant Eyad al-Gharib, 44, a low-level officer in Branch 251 was also sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison on 24 February 2021. Eyad's duties included the transport of detainees to locations where they would be tortured for days on end. It was his knowledge of the fact that torture was happening there that landed him the sentence.{{cite news|title=Syrian intelligence officer is convicted of crimes against humanity, gets life in prison in landmark German trial.|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/13/germany-syria-war-crimes-trial/|date=14 January 2022|archive-date=13 January 2022|access-date=13 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113150735/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/13/germany-syria-war-crimes-trial/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=How an Alleged Syrian Intelligence Officer was Put on Trial in Germany|url=https://www.hrw.org/feature/2022/01/06/seeking-justice-for-syria/how-an-alleged-intelligence-officer-was-put-on-trial-in-germany|date=14 January 2022|access-date=13 January 2022|archive-date=13 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113221725/https://www.hrw.org/feature/2022/01/06/seeking-justice-for-syria/how-an-alleged-intelligence-officer-was-put-on-trial-in-germany|url-status=live}}

File:Aleppo hospital.PNG

As the conflict has expanded across Syria, many cities have been engulfed in a wave of crime as fighting caused the disintegration of much of the civilian state, and many police stations stopped functioning. Rates of theft increased, with criminals looting houses and stores. Rates of kidnappings increased as well. Rebel fighters were seen stealing cars and, in one instance, destroying a restaurant in Aleppo where Syrian soldiers had been seen eating.{{cite news |last=Cave |first=Damein |title=Crime Wave Engulfs Syria as Its Cities Reel From War |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/10/world/middleeast/crime-wave-engulfs-syria-as-its-cities-reel-from-war.html |access-date=26 August 2012 |work=The New York Times |date=9 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813235006/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/10/world/middleeast/crime-wave-engulfs-syria-as-its-cities-reel-from-war.html |archive-date=13 August 2012 |url-status=live}}

Local National Defense Forces commanders often engaged "in war profiteering through protection rackets, looting and organized crime". NDF members were also implicated in "waves of murders, robberies, thefts, kidnappings and extortions throughout government-held parts of Syria since the formation of the organization in 2013", as reported by the Institute for the Study of War.{{cite web |url=https://www.iswresearch.org/2015/05/the-regime-military-capabilities-part-1.html |title=The Regime's Military Capabilities: Part 1 |publisher=ISW |last=Kozak |first=Christopher |date=26 May 2015 |access-date=9 January 2025|quote=Local NDF commanders often engage in war profiteering through protection rackets, looting, and organized crime. NDF members have been implicated in waves of murders, robberies, thefts, kidnappings, and extortions throughout regime-held parts of Syria since the formation of the organization in 2013.}}

Criminal networks have been used by both the government and the opposition during the conflict. Facing international sanctions, the Syrian government relied on criminal organizations to smuggle goods and money in and out of the country. The economic downturn caused by the conflict and sanctions also led to lower wages for Shabiha members. In response, some Shabiha members began stealing civilian properties and engaging in kidnappings.{{cite web |last=Asher |first=Berman |title=Criminalization of the Syrian Conflict |url=http://www.understandingwar.org/article/criminalization-syrian-conflict |work=Institute for the Study of War |access-date=27 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018102104/http://understandingwar.org/article/criminalization-syrian-conflict |archive-date=18 October 2012 |url-status=live}} Rebel forces sometimes rely on criminal networks to obtain weapons and supplies. Black market weapon prices in Syria's neighboring countries have significantly increased since the start of the conflict. To generate funds to purchase arms, some rebel groups have turned towards extortion, theft and kidnapping.

Syria has become the chief location for manufacturing Captagon, an illegal amphetamine. Drugs manufactured in Syria have found their way across the Gulf, Jordan and Europe but have at times been intercepted. In January 2022, a Jordanian army officer was shot and killed and three army personnel injured after a shoot out erupted between drug smugglers and the army. The Jordanian army has said that it shot down a drone in 2021 that was being used to smuggle a substantial amount of drugs across the Jordanian border.{{Cite news|date=16 January 2022|title=Jordan army officer killed in shooting along border with Syria -army statement|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/jordan-army-officer-killed-three-injured-shooting-along-border-with-syria-army-2022-01-16/|access-date=18 January 2022|archive-date=18 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118215205/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/jordan-army-officer-killed-three-injured-shooting-along-border-with-syria-army-2022-01-16/|url-status=live}}

{{Further|COVID-19 pandemic in Syria}}

The World Health Organization has reported that 35% of the country's hospitals are out of service. Fighting makes it impossible to undertake the normal vaccination programs. The displaced refugees may also pose a disease risk to countries to which they have fled.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22766084 |title=WHO warns of Syria disease threat |publisher=BBC |date=4 June 2013 |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930214050/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22766084 |archive-date=30 September 2018 |url-status=live}} Four hundred thousand civilians were isolated by the Siege of Eastern Ghouta from April 2013 to April 2018, resulting in acutely malnourished children according to the United Nations Special Advisor, Jan Egeland, who urged the parties for medical evacuations. 55,000 civilians are also isolated in the Rukban refugee camp between Syria and Jordan, where humanitarian relief access is difficult due to the harsh desert conditions. Humanitarian aid reaches the camp only sporadically, sometimes taking three months between shipments.United Nations. (9 November 2017). "Syrian conflict has now lasted longer than World War II – UN humanitarian envoy". [http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=58062 UN News Centre website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211233433/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=58062 |date=11 December 2017}}. Retrieved 10 December 2017.{{cite web |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/rukban-camp-syria-receives-aid-3-months-190207175321262.html |title=Rukban camp in Syria receives first aid in three months |access-date=17 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321014358/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/rukban-camp-syria-receives-aid-3-months-190207175321262.html |archive-date=21 March 2019 |url-status=live}}

Formerly rare infectious diseases have spread in rebel-held areas brought on by poor sanitation and deteriorating living conditions. The diseases have primarily affected children. These include measles, typhoid, hepatitis, dysentery, tuberculosis, diphtheria, whooping cough and the disfiguring skin disease leishmaniasis. Of particular concern is the contagious and crippling Poliomyelitis. As of late 2013 doctors and international public health agencies have reported more than 90 cases. Critics of the government complain that, even before the uprising, it contributed to the spread of disease by purposefully restricting access to vaccination, sanitation and access to hygienic water in "areas considered politically unsympathetic".{{Cite journal |last=Sparrow |first=Annie |title=Syria's Polio Epidemic: The Suppressed Truth |journal=New York Review |date=20 February 2014 |url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/feb/20/syrias-polio-epidemic-suppressed-truth/?insrc=hpma |access-date=23 January 2014 |quote=Even before the uprising, in areas considered politically unsympathetic like Deir Ezzor, the government stopped maintaining sanitation and safe-water services, and began withholding routine immunizations for preventable childhood diseases. Once the war began, the government started ruthless attacks on civilians in opposition-held areas, forcing millions to seek refuge in filthy, crowded, and cold conditions. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125214019/http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/feb/20/syrias-polio-epidemic-suppressed-truth/?insrc=hpma |archive-date=25 January 2014 |url-status=live}}

In June 2020, the United Nations reported that after more than nine years of war, Syria was falling into an even deeper crisis and economic deterioration as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 26 June, a total of 248 people were infected by COVID-19, out of which nine people died. Restrictions on the importation of medical supplies, limited access to essential equipment, reduced outside support and ongoing attacks on medical facilities left Syria's health infrastructure in peril, and unable to meet the needs of its population. Syrian communities were additionally facing unprecedented levels of hunger crisis.{{cite web|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/06/1067252|title=Syrians 'face unprecedented hunger amid impending COVID crisis'|access-date=26 June 2020|website=UN News|date=26 June 2020|archive-date=28 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628084132/https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/06/1067252|url-status=live}}

In September 2022, the UN representative in Syria reported that several regions in the country were witnessing a cholera outbreak. UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Imran Riza called for an urgent response to contain the outbreak, saying that it posed "a serious threat to people in Syria". The outbreak was linked to the use of contaminated water for growing crops and the reliance of people on unsafe water sources.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/cholera-outbreak-syria-poses-serious-threat-un-2022-09-13/|title=Cholera outbreak in Syria poses serious threat, U.N. says|access-date=13 September 2022|website=Reuters|date=13 September 2022|archive-date=13 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913132030/https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/cholera-outbreak-syria-poses-serious-threat-un-2022-09-13/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Humanitarian aid during the Syrian civil war}}

File:U.S. Airmen with the 386th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron load pallets of humanitarian relief supplies onto a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia June 4, 2013 130604-F-KL201-115.jpg

The conflict holds the record for the largest sum ever requested by UN agencies for a single humanitarian emergency, $6.5{{spaces}}billion worth of requests of December 2013.{{cite web |title=UN launches biggest humanitarian appeal, fearing deepening of Syrian crisis |url=http://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/un-launches-biggest-humanitarian-appeal-fearing-deepening-syrian-crisis |website=ReliefWeb |date=16 December 2013 |access-date=28 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201135117/http://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/un-launches-biggest-humanitarian-appeal-fearing-deepening-syrian-crisis |archive-date=1 February 2016 |url-status=live}} The international humanitarian response to the conflict in Syria is coordinated by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in accordance with General Assembly Resolution 46/182.United Nations General Assembly Resolution 182 session 46 Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian emergency assistance of the United Nations on 19 December 1991 The primary framework for this coordination is the Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan (SHARP) which appealed for US$1.41{{spaces}}billion to meet the humanitarian needs of Syrians affected by the conflict.[http://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/revised-syria-humanitarian-assistance-response-plan-sharp-january United Nations, Syria Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan (SHARP)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130916000153/http://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/revised-syria-humanitarian-assistance-response-plan-sharp-january |date=16 September 2013}}. Retrieved 18 September 2013. Official United Nations data on the humanitarian situation and response is available at an official website managed by UNOCHA Syria (Amman).{{cite web |url=http://syria.unocha.org/ |title=Syrian Arab Republic |publisher=United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) |access-date=18 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109203428/http://syria.unocha.org/ |archive-date=9 November 2013 |url-status=live}} UNICEF is also working alongside these organizations to provide vaccinations and care packages to those in need. Financial information on the response to the SHARP and assistance to refugees and for cross-border operations can be found on UNOCHA's Financial Tracking Service. As of 19 September 2015, the top ten donors to Syria were United States, European Commission, United Kingdom, Kuwait, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Japan, UAE and Norway.{{cite web |work=UNOCHA |department=Financial Tracking Service |url=http://fts.unocha.org/pageloader.aspx?page=emerg-emergencyDetails&emergID=16303|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121210732/http://fts.unocha.org/pageloader.aspx?page=emerg-emergencyDetails&emergID=16303|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 January 2013 |title=Syrian Arab Republic – Civil Unrest 2013 |access-date=19 September 2015}}

The difficulty of delivering humanitarian aid to people is indicated by the statistics for January 2015: of the estimated 212,000 people during that month who were besieged by government or opposition forces, 304 were reached with food.{{cite web |title=Syria crisis 'worsening' amid humanitarian funding shortfall, warns top UN relief official |url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50436 |publisher=UN News Centre |date=26 March 2015 |access-date=28 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724002123/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50436 |archive-date=24 July 2015 |url-status=live}} USAID and other government agencies in US delivered nearly $385{{spaces}}million of aid items to Syria in 2012 and 2013. The United States has provided food aid, medical supplies, emergency and basic health care, shelter materials, clean water, hygiene education and supplies, and other relief supplies.{{cite web |url=http://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/working-crises-and-conflict/responding-times-crisis/where-we-work/syria |title=USAID/SYRIA |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502071344/http://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/working-crises-and-conflict/responding-times-crisis/where-we-work/syria |archive-date=2 May 2013}} Islamic Relief has stocked 30 hospitals and sent hundreds of thousands of medical and food parcels.{{cite web |url=http://www.irusa.org/emergencies/syrian-humanitarian-relief/ |title=SYRIAN HUMANITARIAN RELIEF |access-date=29 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424123556/http://www.irusa.org/emergencies/syrian-humanitarian-relief/ |archive-date=24 April 2013 |url-status=live}}

Other countries in the region have also contributed various levels of aid. Iran has been exporting between 500 and 800 tonnes of flour daily to Syria.{{cite news |url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130303/iran-sending-tonnes-flour-daily-syria-report |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306012357/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130303/iran-sending-tonnes-flour-daily-syria-report |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 March 2013 |title=Iran sending tonnes of flour daily to Syria: report |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=3 March 2013 }} Israel supplied aid through Operation Good Neighbor, providing medical treatment to 750 Syrians in a field hospital located in Golan Heights where rebels say that 250 of their fighters were treated.{{cite news|url=http://www.thenational.ae/world/revealed-how-syrian-rebels-seek-medical-help-from-an-unlikely-source-in-israel|title=Revealed: how Syrian rebels seek medical help from an unlikely source in Israel|date=12 January 2014|access-date=17 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219201141/http://www.thenational.ae/world/revealed-how-syrian-rebels-seek-medical-help-from-an-unlikely-source-in-israel|archive-date=19 February 2014|url-status=dead}} Israel established two medical centers inside Syria. Israel also delivered heating fuel, diesel fuel, seven electric generators, water pipes, educational materials, flour for bakeries, baby food, diapers, shoes and clothing. Syrian refugees in Lebanon make up one quarter of Lebanon's population, mostly consisting of women and children.{{cite web |url=http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=107584 |title=Humanitarian aid convoy departs to help Syrian refugees |date=27 April 2013 |access-date=29 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513184120/http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=107584 |archive-date=13 May 2013 |url-status=usurped}} In addition, Russia has said it created six humanitarian aid centers within Syria to support 3000 refugees in 2016.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-aleppo-idUSKCN10A0IM |title=Scores of families leave besieged Aleppo under Russia-Damascus plan |date=30 July 2016 |work=Reuters |access-date=4 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803211733/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-aleppo-idUSKCN10A0IM |archive-date=3 August 2016 |url-status=live}}

On 9 April 2020, the UN dispatched 51 truckloads of humanitarian aid to Idlib. The organization said that the aid would be distributed among civilians stranded in the northwestern part of the country.{{cite web|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/un-sends-humanitarian-aid-to-idlib-nw-syria/1780581|title=UN sends humanitarian aid to Idlib, NW Syria|access-date=9 April 2020|website=Anadolu Agency|archive-date=12 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412122228/https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/un-sends-humanitarian-aid-to-idlib-nw-syria/1780581|url-status=live}}

On 30 April 2020, Human Rights Watch condemned the Syrian authorities for their longstanding restriction on the entry of aid supplies.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/28/syria-aid-restrictions-hinder-covid-19-response|title=Syria: Aid Restrictions Hinder Covid-19 Response|access-date=28 April 2020|website=Human Rights Watch|date=28 April 2020|archive-date=29 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429065050/https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/28/syria-aid-restrictions-hinder-covid-19-response|url-status=live}} It also demanded the World Health Organization to keep pushing the UN to allow medical aid and other essentials to reach Syria via the Iraq border crossing, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the war-torn nation. The aid supplies, if allowed, will allow the Syrian population to protect themselves from contracting the COVID-19 virus.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/30/who-should-stand-appeal-cross-border-aid-syria|title=WHO Should Stand By Appeal for Cross-Border Aid to Syria|access-date=30 April 2020|website=Human Rights Watch|date=30 April 2020|archive-date=19 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819152254/https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/30/who-should-stand-appeal-cross-border-aid-syria|url-status=live}}

As of December 2019, a diplomatic dispute is occurring at the UN over re-authorization of cross-border aid for refugees. China and Russia oppose the draft resolution that seeks to re-authorize crossing points in Turkey, Iraq and Jordan; China and Russia, as allies of Assad, seek to close the two crossing points in Iraq and Jordan, and to leave only the two crossing points in Turkey active.{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/191219064903066.html|title=Clash at UN Security Council over cross-border aid for Syria |date=19 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219144720/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/191219064903066.html|access-date=15 January 2020|archive-date=19 December 2019}} The current authorization expired on 10 January 2020.{{cite web|url=https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2020-01/syria-15.php|title=Syria, January 2020 Monthly Forecast: Security Council Report|website=securitycouncilreport.org|access-date=15 January 2020|archive-date=31 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231020315/https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/monthly-forecast/2020-01/syria-15.php|url-status=live}}

All of the ten individuals representing the non-permanent members of the Security Council stood in the corridor outside of the chamber speaking to the press to state that all four crossing points are crucial and must be renewed.

United Nations official Mark Lowcock is asking the UN to re-authorize cross-border aid to enable aid to continue to reach refugees in Syria. He says there is no other way to deliver the aid that is needed. He noted that four million refugees out of the over eleven million refugees who need assistance are being reached through four specific international crossing points. Lowcock serves as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.{{cite web|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/middle-east_un-ability-get-lifesaving-aid-4-million-syrians-risk/6181303.html|title=UN: Ability to Get Lifesaving Aid to 4 Million Syrians at Risk |date=19 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219142307/https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/un-ability-get-lifesaving-aid-4-million-syrians-risk|access-date=15 January 2020|url-status=live|archive-date=19 December 2019}}

Russia, aided by China's support, has vetoed the resolution to retain all four border crossings. An alternate resolution also did not pass.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-un/russia-backed-by-china-casts-14th-u-n-veto-on-syria-to-block-cross-border-aid-idUSKBN1YO23V|title=Russia, backed by China, casts 14th U.N. veto on Syria to block cross-border aid – Reuters|newspaper=Reuters|date=23 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223150638/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-un/russia-backed-by-china-casts-14th-u-n-veto-on-syria-to-block-cross-border-aid-idUSKBN1YO23V|access-date=15 January 2020|archive-date=23 December 2019|last1=Nichols|first1=Michelle}}{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/e3d23c9f8ecdb2a146b55f3464d15660|title=UN defeats rival resolutions to keep Syria cross-border aid|website=Associated Press|date=23 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223150640/https://apnews.com/e3d23c9f8ecdb2a146b55f3464d15660|access-date=15 January 2020|archive-date=23 December 2019}} The US strongly criticized the vetoes and opposition by Russia and China.[https://www.dailysabah.com/syrian-crisis/2019/12/22/us-slams-china-russia-veto-on-humanitarian-aid-to-syria US slams China, Russia veto on humanitarian aid to Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223151013/https://www.dailysabah.com/syrian-crisis/2019/12/22/us-slams-china-russia-veto-on-humanitarian-aid-to-syria |date=23 December 2019 }}. Daily Sabah with AFP, Istanbul, 22 December 2019.[https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2019/12/21/russia-china-block-extension-of-syria-cross-border-aid Russia, China block extension of cross-border humanitarian aid for millions of Syrians] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224023758/https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2019/12/21/russia-china-block-extension-of-syria-cross-border-aid |date=24 December 2019 }}, alaraby.co.uk China explained the reason for veto is the concern of "unilateral coercive measures" by certain states causing humanitarian suffering on the Syrian people. It views lifting all unilateral sanctions respecting Syrian sovereignty and for humanitarian reasons is a must.{{Cite web|title=Letter dated 8 July 2020 from the President of the Security Council addressed to the Secretary-General and the Permanent Representatives of the members of the Security Council|url=https://undocs.org/en/S/2020/661|access-date=19 May 2021|website=undocs.org|language=en|archive-date=19 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519112635/https://undocs.org/en/S/2020/661|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Tourism in Syria|List of heritage sites damaged during the Syrian civil war|Destruction of cultural heritage by the Islamic State}}

{{See also|Syrian civil war in popular culture}}

File:Temple of Bel, Palmyra 02.jpg in Palmyra, which was destroyed by ISIL in August 2015]]

{{As of|March 2015}}, the war has affected 290 heritage sites, severely damaged 104, and completely destroyed 24.{{update inline|date=November 2020}} Five of the six UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Syria have been damaged.{{cite news |last1=Al Rifai |first1=Diana |last2=Haddad |first2=Mohammed |title=What's left of Syria? |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2015/03/left-syria-150317133753354.html |access-date=21 March 2015 |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=17 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320054413/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2015/03/left-syria-150317133753354.html |archive-date=20 March 2015 |url-status=live}} Destruction of antiquities has been caused by shelling, army entrenchment, and looting at various tells, museums and monuments.Cunliffe, Emma. [http://ghn.globalheritagefund.com/uploads/documents/document_2107.pdf "Damage to the Soul: Syria's cultural heritage in conflict"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710192645/http://ghn.globalheritagefund.com/uploads/documents/document_2107.pdf |date=10 July 2012}}. Durham University and the Global Heritage Fund. 1 May 2012. A group called Syrian Archaeological Heritage Under Threat is monitoring and recording the destruction in an attempt to create a list of heritage sites damaged during the war and to gain global support for the protection and preservation of Syrian archaeology and architecture.Fisk, Robert. [https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-syrias-ancient-treasures-pulverised-8007768.html "Syria's ancient treasures pulverised"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150310174644/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-syrias-ancient-treasures-pulverised-8007768.html |date=10 March 2015}}. The Independent. 5 August 2012.

UNESCO listed all six Syria's World Heritage Sites as endangered but direct assessment of damage is not possible. It is known that the Old City of Aleppo was heavily damaged during battles being fought within the district, while Palmyra and Krak des Chevaliers suffered minor damage. Illegal digging is said to be a grave danger, and hundreds of Syrian antiquities, including some from Palmyra, appeared in Lebanon. Three archeological museums are known to have been looted; in Raqqa some artifacts seem to have been destroyed by foreign Islamists due to religious objections.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/17/world/middleeast/syrian-war-takes-heavy-toll-at-a-crossroad-of-cultures.html |title=Syrian War Takes Heavy Toll at a Crossroad of Cultures |date=16 April 2014 |access-date=18 April 2014 |work=The New York Times |first=Anne |last=Barnard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417235247/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/17/world/middleeast/syrian-war-takes-heavy-toll-at-a-crossroad-of-cultures.html |archive-date=17 April 2014 |url-status=live}}

In 2014 and 2015, following the rise of the Islamic State, several sites in Syria were destroyed by the group as part of a deliberate destruction of cultural heritage sites. In Palmyra, the group destroyed many ancient statues, the Temples of Baalshamin and Bel, many tombs including the Tower of Elahbel and part of the Monumental Arch.{{cite news |title=Palmyra's Temple of Bel destroyed, says UN |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34111092 |access-date=3 September 2015 |work=BBC News |date=1 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903005143/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34111092 |archive-date=3 September 2015 |url-status=live}} The 13th-century Palmyra Castle was extensively damaged by retreating militants during the Palmyra offensive in March 2016.{{cite news |last1=Said |first1=H. |last2=Raslan |first2=Rasha |last3=Sabbagh |first3=Hazem |title=Palmyra Castle partially damaged due to ISIS acts, plans to restore it to its former glory |url=http://sana.sy/en/?p=72903 |agency=Syrian Arab News Agency |date=26 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327133431/http://sana.sy/en/?p=72903 |archive-date=27 March 2016}} IS also destroyed ancient statues in Raqqa,{{cite web |title=Threats to Cultural Heritage in Iraq and Syria |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/09/232028.htm |website=US Department of State |access-date=3 September 2015 |date=23 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170121130323/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/09/232028.htm |archive-date=21 January 2017 |url-status=live}} and a number of churches, including the Armenian Genocide Memorial Church in Deir ez-Zor.{{cite news |last1=Hayrumyan |first1=Naira |title=Middle East Terror: Memory of Armenian Genocide victims targeted by ISIS militants |url=http://www.armenianow.com/commentary/analysis/57070/armenia_church_syria_isis_aram_catholicos |access-date=3 September 2015 |work=ArmeniaNow |date=24 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905144120/http://www.armenianow.com/commentary/analysis/57070/armenia_church_syria_isis_aram_catholicos |archive-date=5 September 2015 |url-status=live}}

In January 2018 Turkish airstrikes seriously damaged an ancient Neo-Hittite temple in Syria's Kurdish-held Afrin region. It was built by the Arameans in the first millennium BC.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42858265|title=Turkish strikes 'damage ancient temple'|date=29 January 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=30 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129222239/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42858265|archive-date=29 January 2018|url-status=live}} According to a September 2019 report published by the Syrian Network for Human Rights, more than 120 Christian churches have been destroyed or damaged in Syria since 2011.{{cite news |url= http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/report-over-120-syrian-churches-damaged-by-war-since-2011-146451 |title= Report: Over 120 Syrian churches damaged by war since 2011 |date= 10 September 2019 |access-date= 10 September 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190915161623/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/report-over-120-syrian-churches-damaged-by-war-since-2011-146451 |archive-date= 15 September 2019 |url-status= live}}

The war has inspired its own particular artwork, done by Syrians. A late summer 2013 exhibition in London at the P21 Gallery showed some of this work, which had to be smuggled out of Syria.{{cite news |first=David |last=Batty |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/22/syria-art-smuggled-exhibition-london-uk |title=Syrian art smuggled from the midst of civil war to show in London |work=The Guardian |date=22 June 2013 |access-date=13 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118114601/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/22/syria-art-smuggled-exhibition-london-uk |archive-date=18 November 2016 |url-status=live}}

As a result of the war many children's books have been published surrounding themes and stories of Syrian children of war. Some examples of this would be Tomorrow by Nadine Kaadan, My Beautiful Birds by Suzanne del Rizzo and Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh.{{Cite web |last=lbreiseth |date=4 May 2017 |title=Syrian Stories: Books for Children and Teens |url=https://www.colorincolorado.org/booklist/syrian-stories-books-children |access-date=7 October 2024 |website=www.colorincolorado.org |language=en}}

{{Main|Media coverage of the Syrian civil war}}

The Syrian civil war is one of the most heavily documented wars in history, despite the extreme dangers that journalists face while in Syria.{{cite web |url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-12-19/syrias-war-may-be-most-documented-ever-and-yet-we-know-so-little |title=Syria's war may be the most documented ever. And yet, we know so little. |publisher=PRI |date=19 December 2016 |access-date=4 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304115121/https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-12-19/syrias-war-may-be-most-documented-ever-and-yet-we-know-so-little |archive-date=4 March 2017 |url-status=live}}
{{cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/st/c/prod/eng/2016/news/03/syria/ |title=Five years in Syria: History's most documented war |work=Haaretz |access-date=4 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312052613/http://www.haaretz.com/st/c/prod/eng/2016/news/03/syria/ |archive-date=12 March 2017 |url-status=live}}

On 19 August 2014, American journalist James Foley was executed by ISIL, who said it was in retaliation for the United States operations in Iraq. Foley was kidnapped in Syria in November 2012 by Shabiha militia.{{cite web |url=http://www.wbur.org/2013/05/03/foley-family-syrian-prison |title=N.H. Family: Missing Journalist James Foley In Syrian Prison |first=Curt |last=Nickisch |date=3 May 2013 |publisher=WBUR |access-date=2 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006105946/http://www.wbur.org/2013/05/03/foley-family-syrian-prison |archive-date=6 October 2014 |url-status=live}} ISIL also threatened to execute Steven Sotloff, who was kidnapped at the Syrian–Turkish border in August 2013.{{cite news |url=http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/08/isil-beheads-photojournalist-james-wright-foley/378802/ |title=ISIL Beheads American Photojournalist James Foley |first=Polly |last=Mosendz |work=The Wire |access-date=2 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140928073108/http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/08/isil-beheads-photojournalist-james-wright-foley/378802/ |archive-date=28 September 2014 |url-status=live}} There were reports ISIS captured a Japanese national, two Italian nationals, and a Danish national as well.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/20/islamic-state-isis-foreign-hostages-syria-aleppo?CMP=twt_gu |title=Islamic State militants seize four more foreign hostages in Syria |first=Martin |last=Chulov |work=The Guardian |date=20 August 2014 |access-date=2 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009035842/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/20/islamic-state-isis-foreign-hostages-syria-aleppo?CMP=twt_gu |archive-date=9 October 2014 |url-status=live}} Sotloff was later executed in September 2014. At least 70 journalists have been killed covering the Syrian war, and more than 80 kidnapped, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.{{cite web |url=http://www.cpj.org/2014/08/james-foleys-killers-pose-many-threats-to-local-in.php |title=James Foley's killers pose many threats to local, international journalists |publisher=Committee to Protect Journalists |date=20 August 2014 |access-date=21 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821181102/https://cpj.org/2014/08/james-foleys-killers-pose-many-threats-to-local-in.php |archive-date=21 August 2014}} On 22 August 2014, the al-Nusra Front released a video of captured Lebanese soldiers and demanded Hezbollah withdraw from Syria under threat of their execution.{{cite news |url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Aug-23/268253-captured-soldiers-they-will-kill-us-if-hezbollah-remains-in-syria.ashx |title=Captured soldiers: They will kill us, if Hezbollah remains in Syria |work=The Daily Star Newspaper – Lebanon |date=23 August 2014 |access-date=2 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006142104/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Aug-23/268253-captured-soldiers-they-will-kill-us-if-hezbollah-remains-in-syria.ashx |archive-date=6 October 2014 |url-status=live}}

{{Main|International reactions to the Syrian civil war}}

{{See also|Vetoed United Nations Security Council resolutions on Syria}}

File:Esther Brimmer Speaks at Human Rights Council Urgent Debate on Syria (3).jpg (US) speaks at a United Nations Human Rights Council urgent debate on Syria, February 2012]]

During the early period of the civil war, The Arab League, European Union, the United Nations{{cite news |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/03/2011318231622114396.html |title=UN chief slams Syria's crackdown on protests |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=18 March 2011 |access-date=2 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130034801/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/03/2011318231622114396.html |archive-date=30 January 2012 |url-status=live}} and many Western governments quickly condemned the Syrian government's violent response to the protests, and expressed support for the protesters' right to exercise free speech.{{cite web |url=http://www.international.gc.ca/media/aff/news-communiques/2011/113.aspx?lang=eng |title=Minister Cannon Condemns Ongoing Violence in Yemen, Bahrain and Syria |publisher=Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada |date=21 March 2011 |access-date=7 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626130505/http://www.international.gc.ca/media/aff/news-communiques/2011/113.aspx?lang=eng |archive-date=26 June 2015 |url-status=live}} Initially, many Middle Eastern governments expressed support for Assad, but as the death toll mounted, they switched to a more balanced approach by criticizing violence from both government and protesters. Both the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation suspended Syria's membership. Russia and China vetoed Western-drafted United Nations Security Council resolutions in 2011 and 2012, which would have threatened the Syrian government with targeted sanctions if it continued military actions against protestors.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15177114 |title=China and Russia veto UN resolution condemning Syria |publisher=BBC |date=5 October 2011 |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930172947/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15177114 |archive-date=30 September 2018 |url-status=live}}

{{See also|Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act|Syria–United States relations#Economic sanctions}}

The US Congress has enacted punitive sanctions on the Syrian government for its actions during the Civil War. These sanctions would penalize any entities lending support to the Syrian government, and any companies operating in Syria.{{cite web|url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/12/syria-sanctions-caesar-bill-economy-dependency-iran.html|title=Could Congress' latest Syria sanctions bill backfire?|last=Mansour|first=Aiman|date=26 December 2019|website=Al-Monitor|language=en|access-date=15 January 2020|archive-date=31 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231061334/https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/12/syria-sanctions-caesar-bill-economy-dependency-iran.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://brief.kharon.com/updates/us-adds-bevy-of-sanctions-in-defense-authorization-law/|title=U.S. Adds Bevy of Sanctions in Defense Authorization Law |website=Kharon |language=en|access-date=15 January 2020|archive-date=30 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230151053/https://brief.kharon.com/updates/us-adds-bevy-of-sanctions-in-defense-authorization-law/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/syria-prepares-massive-offensive-us-votes-new-sanctions-assad-russia-iran-1477752|title=Syria prepares for a major offensive as the U.S. votes for new sanctions on Assad, Russia and Iran |last=O'Connor |first=Tom |date=17 December 2019|website=Newsweek|language=en|access-date=17 January 2020|archive-date=30 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230124207/https://www.newsweek.com/syria-prepares-massive-offensive-us-votes-new-sanctions-assad-russia-iran-1477752|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/whats-caesar-act-donald-trumps-738bn-defence-policy-bill|title=What's the 'Caesar Act' in Trump's $738bn defence policy bill?|website=Middle East Eye|language=en|access-date=17 January 2020|archive-date=14 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114213101/https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/whats-caesar-act-donald-trumps-738bn-defence-policy-bill|url-status=live}} US President Donald Trump tried to protect the Turkish President Erdogan from the effects of such sanctions.{{cite web|url=https://www.axios.com/trump-congress-turkey-sanctions-russia-aab99e82-0df8-4575-968c-923f6cf50fc9.html|title=Trump administration lays out case against Senate bill that would levy Turkey sanctions|website=Axios|date=23 December 2019 |language=en|access-date=17 January 2020|archive-date=24 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224013117/https://www.axios.com/trump-congress-turkey-sanctions-russia-aab99e82-0df8-4575-968c-923f6cf50fc9.html|url-status=live}}

Some activists welcomed this legislation.{{cite web|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-congress-approves-measure-sweeping-sanctions-against-syrian-government|title=US Congress approves bill to impose sweeping sanctions against Syrian government|website=Middle East Eye|language=en|access-date=17 January 2020}} Some critics contend that these punitive sanctions are likely to backfire or have unintended consequences; they argue that ordinary Syrian people will have fewer economic resources due to these sanctions (and will thus need to rely more the Syrian government and its economic allies and projects), while the sanctions' impact on ruling political elites will be limited.{{cite news|first=Oula A.|last=Alrifai|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/29/assad-is-growing-stronger-under-trumps-nonexistent-syria-policy/|title=Assad is growing stronger under Trump's nonexistent Syria policy|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=29 December 2019|access-date=31 December 2019|archive-date=30 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191230170214/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/29/assad-is-growing-stronger-under-trumps-nonexistent-syria-policy/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|first=Angus|last=McDowall|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-sanctions-idUSKCN1LI06Z|title=Long reach of U.S. sanctions hits Syria reconstruction|date=4 September 2018|work=Reuters|access-date=17 January 2020|archive-date=2 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402144253/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-sanctions-idUSKCN1LI06Z|url-status=live}}

Mohammad al-Abdallah, executive director of Syria Justice and Accountability Center (SJAC), said that the sanctions will likely hurt ordinary Syrian people, saying, "it is an almost unsolvable unfeasible equation. If they are imposed, they will indirectly harm the Syrian people, and if they are lifted, they will indirectly revive the Syrian regime;" he attributed the sanctions to "political considerations, as the United States does not have weapons and tools in the Syrian file, and sanctions are its only means."{{cite web|url=https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2019/12/caesar-act-economic-chokehold-to-adjust-political-behavior/|title=Caesar Act: economic chokehold to adjust political behavior|date=25 December 2019|website=Enab Baladi|language=en-US|access-date=17 January 2020|archive-date=26 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226135938/https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2019/12/caesar-act-economic-chokehold-to-adjust-political-behavior/|url-status=live}}

Peter Ford, the former UK Ambassador to Syria, said "...going forward, we're seeing more economic warfare. It seems that the US, having failed to change the regime in Syria by military force or by proxies, is tightening the economic screws and the main reason why the US is keeping hold of the production facilities in eastern Syria. So, the economic situation is becoming more and more serious and dire in Syria and it's a major reason why refugees are not going back."{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

In June, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced new economic sanctions on Syria targeting foreign business relations with the Syrian government. Under the Caesar Act, the latest sanctions were to be imposed on 39 individuals and entities, including Asma al-Assad, wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53076994|title=Syria war: New US sanctions target Assad government's foreign backers|work=BBC News|date=17 June 2020|access-date=17 June 2020|archive-date=18 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618140608/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-53076994|url-status=live}}

On 17 June 2020, James F. Jeffrey, Special Representative for Syria Engagement, signalled that the UAE could be hit with sanctions under the Caesar Act if it pushed ahead with normalisation efforts with the Syrian regime.{{cite web|url=https://2017-2021.state.gov/special-representative-for-syria-engagement-james-jeffrey-on-syria-caesar-act-designations/index.html|title=Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey On Syria Caesar Act Designations|access-date=17 June 2020|website=United States Department of States|archive-date=2 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102225119/https://www.state.gov/special-representative-for-syria-engagement-james-jeffrey-on-syria-caesar-act-designations/|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Syrian civil war ceasefires|Safe Zone (Syria)}}

File:Secretary Kerry Sits With Fellow Foreign Ministers Before Group Discussion in Austria About Syria (22573995626).jpg

During the course of the war, there have been several international peace initiatives, undertaken by the Arab League, the United Nations and other actors.{{Cite journal |last=Lundgren |first=Magnus |year=2016 |title=Mediation in Syria: initiatives, strategies, and obstacles, 2011–2016 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303312425 |journal=Contemporary Security Policy |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=273–288 |doi=10.1080/13523260.2016.1192377 |s2cid=156447200 |access-date=20 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202000757/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303312425_Mediation_in_Syria_Initiatives_strategies_and_obstacles_2011-2016 |archive-date=2 February 2017 |url-status=live}} The Syrian government has refused efforts to negotiate with what it describes as armed terrorist groups.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKBN0TU2F920151211 |title=Syria's Assad says he will not negotiate with armed groups |work=Reuters |access-date=2 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421124913/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKBN0TU2F920151211 |archive-date=21 April 2017 |url-status=live}}
{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-election-idUSKCN0SJ05R20151025 |title=Assad's priority to defeat 'terrorism' before elections: Russian lawmaker |work=Reuters |access-date=2 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224201836/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-election-idUSKCN0SJ05R20151025 |archive-date=24 February 2017 |url-status=live}} On 1 February 2016, the UN announced the formal start of the UN-mediated Geneva Syria peace talks{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN0VA2OT |title=U.N. announces start of Syria peace talks as government troops advance |work=Reuters |access-date=2 February 2016 |date=1 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201232558/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN0VA2OT |archive-date=1 February 2016 |url-status=live}} that had been agreed on by the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) in Vienna. On 3 February 2016, the UN Syria peace mediator suspended the talks.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-un-idUSKCN0VC2U7 |title=Envoy suspended Syria talks over Russian escalation: U.N. official |work=Reuters |access-date=4 February 2016 |date=3 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205005150/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-un-idUSKCN0VC2U7 |archive-date=5 February 2016 |url-status=live}} On 14 March 2016, Geneva peace talks resumed. The Syrian government stated that discussion of Bashar-al-Assad's presidency "is a red line", however Syria's President Bashar al-Assad said he hoped peace talks in Geneva would lead to concrete results, and stressed the need for a political process in Syria.{{cite news |work=Reuters |date=14 March 2016 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-assad-russia-idUSKCN0WG24T |title=Syria's Assad says hopes Geneva talks lead to concrete results: Kremlin |access-date=2 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215045646/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-assad-russia-idUSKCN0WG24T |archive-date=15 February 2017 |url-status=live}}
{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/03/syria-talks-tackle-bashar-al-assad-presidency-160313090906103.html |title=Syria talks to tackle Bashar al-Assad's presidency |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=15 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315183154/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/03/syria-talks-tackle-bashar-al-assad-presidency-160313090906103.html |archive-date=15 March 2016 |url-status=live}}

A new round of talks between the Syrian government and some groups of Syrian rebels concluded on 24 January 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan, with Russia, Iran and Turkey supporting the ceasefire agreement brokered in late December 2016.{{cite news |title=Russian negotiator positive after 'birth' of Astana Syria |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-russia-idUSKBN15820K |work=Reuters |access-date=2 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215042019/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-russia-idUSKBN15820K |archive-date=15 February 2017 |url-status=live}} The Astana Process talks was billed by a Russian official as a complement to, rather than replacement, of the United Nations-led Geneva Process talks. On 4 May 2017, at the fourth round of the Astana talks, representatives of Russia, Iran and Turkey signed a memorandum whereby four "de-escalation zones" in Syria would be established, effective of 6 May 2017.[http://www.interfax.ru/world/561157 РФ, Турция и Иран подписали меморандум о создании в Сирии зон деэскалации] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623161919/http://www.interfax.ru/world/561157 |date=23 June 2017}} Interfax, 4 May 2017.{{cite news |title=Russia, Turkey and Iran continue cooperation on de-escalation zones in Syria |url=http://tass.com/world/953004 |agency=TASS |date=23 June 2017 |access-date=23 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625131708/http://tass.com/world/953004 |archive-date=25 June 2017 |url-status=live}}

On 18 September 2019, Russia stated the United States and Syrian rebels were obstructing the evacuation process of a refugee camp in southern Syria.{{cite web|url=http://www.jordantimes.com/news/region/russia-accuses-us-syria-rebels-blocking-refugee-evacuation|title=Russia accuses US, Syria rebels of blocking refugee evacuation|date=18 September 2019|website=Jordan Times|language=en|access-date=19 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190919182324/http://jordantimes.com/news/region/russia-accuses-us-syria-rebels-blocking-refugee-evacuation|archive-date=19 September 2019|url-status=live}}

On 28 September 2019, Syria's top diplomat demanded the foreign forces, including that of US and Turkey, to immediately leave the country, saying that the Syrian government holds the right to protect its territory in all possible ways if they remain.{{cite web|url=https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/6411303/syria-demands-us-turkish-forces-withdraw/|title=Syria demands US, Turkish forces withdraw|last=Batrawy|first=Aya|date=29 September 2019|website=Newcastle Herald|language=en|access-date=29 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929135050/https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/6411303/syria-demands-us-turkish-forces-withdraw/|archive-date=29 September 2019|url-status=live}}

President RT Erdogan said Turkey was left with no choice other than going its own way on the Syria 'safe zone' after a deadline to co-jointly establish a "safe zone" with the US in northern Syria expired in September.{{cite news|url=https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-defence/turkey-strengthen-efforts-syria-safe-zone-says-security-council|title=Turkey to strengthen efforts for Syria safe zone, says Security Council|website=Ahval|date=October 2019|language=en|access-date=1 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001135727/https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-defence/turkey-strengthen-efforts-syria-safe-zone-says-security-council|archive-date=1 October 2019|url-status=live}} The US indicated it would withdraw its forces from northern Syria after Turkey warned of incursion in the region that could instigate fighting with American-backed Kurds.{{cite web|url=https://moneymaven.io/mishtalk/economics/us-avoids-war-with-turkey-as-trump-pulls-troops-out-of-syria-5zYYLH8dQEmrvyZuU5KFbg/|title=US Avoids War With Turkey as Trump Pulls Troops Out of Syria|website=Mish Talk|date=7 October 2019 |language=en|access-date=7 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007142609/https://moneymaven.io/mishtalk/economics/us-avoids-war-with-turkey-as-trump-pulls-troops-out-of-syria-5zYYLH8dQEmrvyZuU5KFbg/|archive-date=7 October 2019|url-status=live}}

{{See also|Northern Syria Buffer Zone|Second Northern Syria Buffer Zone|2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria}}

In October 2019, in response to the Turkish offensive, Russia arranged for negotiations between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led forces.[https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/russia-calls-turkey-s-invasion-of-north-syria-unacceptable-1.4051499 Russia calls Turkey's invasion of north Syria 'unacceptable.'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022143750/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/russia-calls-turkey-s-invasion-of-north-syria-unacceptable-1.4051499 |date=22 October 2019 }} Strongest words yet from Assad-supporting Moscow heaps pressure on Ankara. Tue, 15 October 2019, Henry Foy, Laura Pitel, Chloe Cornish Russia also negotiated a renewal of a cease-fire between Kurds and Turkey that was about to expire.{{Cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/new-mideast-us-russia-china-1465846 |title=The New Middle East: U.S. Military, Russia's Diplomacy and China's Money|first = Tom|last= O'Connor| website=Newsweek |date=22 October 2019 |access-date=18 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127212746/https://www.newsweek.com/new-mideast-us-russia-china-1465846 |archive-date=27 November 2019 |url-status=live }}

Russia and Turkey agreed via the Sochi Agreement of 2019 to set up a Second Northern Syria Buffer Zone. Syrian President Assad expressed full support for the deal, as various terms of the agreement also applied to the Syrian government.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50152235|title=Russia deploys troops to Turkey-Syria border|date=23 October 2019|access-date=24 October 2019|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211112121/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50152235|archive-date=11 December 2019|url-status=live}}[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/22/turkey-and-russia-agree-deal-over-buffer-zone-in-northern-syria Turkey and Russia agree on deal over buffer zone in northern Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214115348/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/22/turkey-and-russia-agree-deal-over-buffer-zone-in-northern-syria |date=14 December 2019 }}. Erdoğan hails agreement with Putin in which Kurdish fighters will be moved from border area. guardian.com. The SDF stated that they considered themselves as "Syrian and a part of Syria", adding that they would agree to work with the Syrian Government.{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/10/23/772557773/kurdish-reaction-to-turkey-russia-deal-to-patrol-northern-syria|title=Kurdish Reaction To Turkey-Russia Deal To Patrol Northern Syria|website=NPR.org|language=en|access-date=24 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106112818/https://www.npr.org/2019/10/23/772557773/kurdish-reaction-to-turkey-russia-deal-to-patrol-northern-syria|archive-date=6 November 2019|url-status=live}} The SDF officially announced their support for the deal on 27 October.{{cite web|url=https://syrianobserver.com/EN/news/53885/sdf-agrees-to-sochi-deal-for-northern-syria.html|title=SDF Agrees to Sochi Deal for Northern Syria|date=28 October 2019|website=The Syrian Observer|access-date=28 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105093347/https://syrianobserver.com/EN/news/53885/sdf-agrees-to-sochi-deal-for-northern-syria.html|archive-date=5 November 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://ekurd.net/syrian-kurds-say-pulling-2019-10-28|title=Syrian Kurds say pulling out from entire length of Turkey border |date=28 October 2019|website=Kurd Net – Ekurd.net Daily News|language=en-US|access-date=28 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209050826/https://ekurd.net/syrian-kurds-say-pulling-2019-10-28|archive-date=9 December 2019|url-status=live}}[https://mondediplo.com/2019/11/02turkey Turkey and Russia redraw the map in northeast Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223160415/https://mondediplo.com/2019/11/02turkey |date=23 December 2019 }}. With Operation Peace Spring, Turkey has gained control of part of northeast Syria, creating a buffer zone against Kurdish-led forces where it will be able to settle one million Syrian refugees. The Sochi agreement with Russia confirms Turkey's influence over the border zone, and may allow Assad's government to regain control of land held until now by the Kurds. Nov. 2019.

The agreement reportedly included the following terms:{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkeys-erdogan-meets-with-putin-in-russia-to-discuss-syrian-operation/2019/10/22/764abcea-f43f-11e9-b2d2-1f37c9d82dbb_story.html|title=Russia and Turkey reach deal to push Kurdish forces out of zone in northern Syria|last1=Fahim|first1=Kareem|last2=DeYoung|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212022648/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkeys-erdogan-meets-with-putin-in-russia-to-discuss-syrian-operation/2019/10/22/764abcea-f43f-11e9-b2d2-1f37c9d82dbb_story.html|archive-date=12 December 2019|access-date=24 October 2019}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/german-defense-minister-proposes-security-zone-for-syria/2019/10/22/19af90b8-f49f-11e9-b2d2-1f37c9d82dbb_story.html|title=Russia, Turkey seal power in northeast Syria with new accord |last1=Fraser |first1=Suzan |last2=Isachenkov |first2=Vladimir |newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=24 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191024130353/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/german-defense-minister-proposes-security-zone-for-syria/2019/10/22/19af90b8-f49f-11e9-b2d2-1f37c9d82dbb_story.html|archive-date=24 October 2019|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/russia-syria-map-troops-deal-turkey-1467252|title=Russia shows off new Syria map, sends troops to border after its deal with Turkey |last=O'Connor |first=Tom O'Connor |website=Newsweek|date=23 October 2019 |language=en|access-date=24 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191125191513/https://www.newsweek.com/russia-syria-map-troops-deal-turkey-1467252|archive-date=25 November 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1186692319703130119|title=LATEST — Here is the complete text of Turkish, Russian agreement on Northern Syria, that pushed YPG 30km from Turkish, Syria borderpic.twitter.com/jwiOurbfa3|last=Soylu|first=Ragıp|date=22 October 2019|website=@ragipsoylu|language=en|access-date=24 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127024059/https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1186692319703130119|archive-date=27 November 2019|url-status=live}}[https://lobelog.com/the-sochi-agreement-and-its-implications/ The Sochi Agreement And Its Implications] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210185003/https://lobelog.com/the-sochi-agreement-and-its-implications/ |date=10 December 2019 }} 25 October 2019.

• A buffer zone would be established in northern Syria. The zone would be around {{Convert|30|km|abbr=}} deep,{{Efn|Starting from the Syria–Turkey border and going south into Syria|name=|group=}} stretching from Euphrates River to Tall Abyad and from Ras al-Ayn to the Iraq-Syria border, but excluding the town of Qamishli, the Kurds' de facto capital.{{Cite news |title=Turkey v Syria's Kurds: The short, medium and long story |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49963649 |work=BBC News |date=23 October 2019 |access-date=16 September 2020 |archive-date=28 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028073906/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49963649 |url-status=live}} Contains an explanatory map of the buffer zone.
• The buffer zone would be controlled jointly by the Syrian Army and Russian Military Police.
• All YPG forces, which constitute the majority of the SDF, must withdraw from the buffer zone entirely, along with their weapons, within 150 hours from the announcement of the deal. Their withdrawal would be overseen by Russian Military Police and the Syrian Border Guards, which would then enter the zone.

{{Main|Syrian Constitutional Committee}}

In late 2019, a new Syrian Constitutional Committee began operating in order to discuss a new settlement and to draft a new constitution for Syria.[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/30/russia-backed-syria-constitution-talks-begin-in-geneva Russia-backed Syria constitution talks begin in Geneva] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191226003513/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/30/russia-backed-syria-constitution-talks-begin-in-geneva |date=26 December 2019 }}, Patrick Wintour, Wed 30 October 2019.[https://www.dailysabah.com/syrian-crisis/2019/12/10/regime-continues-to-violate-sochi-deal-amid-diplomatic-efforts-for-political-solution-in-syria Regime continues to violate Sochi deal amid diplomatic efforts for political solution in Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210230504/https://www.dailysabah.com/syrian-crisis/2019/12/10/regime-continues-to-violate-sochi-deal-amid-diplomatic-efforts-for-political-solution-in-syria |date=10 December 2019 }}. Daily Sabah, Instanbul, 10 December 2019. This committee comprises about 150 members. It includes representatives of the Syrian government, opposition groups and countries serving as guarantors of the process, such as Russia. However, this committee has faced strong opposition from the Assad government. Fifty of the committee members represent the government, and 50 members represent the opposition. Until the Assad government agrees to participate, it is unclear whether the third round of talks will proceed on a firm schedule.

In December 2019, the EU held an international conference which condemned any suppression of the Kurds, and called for the self-declared Autonomous Administration in Rojava to be preserved and to be reflected in any new Syrian Constitution. The Kurds are concerned that the independence of their declared Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) in Rojava might be severely curtailed.[https://www.brusselstimes.com/all-news/eu-affairs/84361/eu-condemns-turkey-again-while-sticking-to-its-position-on-the-kurdish-administration-in-north-east-syria/ EU condemns Turkey again while sticking to its position on the Kurdish administration in north-east Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218020920/https://www.brusselstimes.com/all-news/eu-affairs/84361/eu-condemns-turkey-again-while-sticking-to-its-position-on-the-kurdish-administration-in-north-east-syria/ |date=18 December 2019 }}, Tuesday, 17 December 2019.

Rojava officials condemned the fact that they were excluded from the peace talks and stated that "having a couple of Kurds" in the committee did not mean that the Syrian Kurds were properly represented in it.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/syrian-kurds-criticise-envoy-committee-190929161609096.html|title=Syrian Kurds criticise UN envoy over new committee|website=aljazeera.com|access-date=30 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030140106/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/syrian-kurds-criticise-envoy-committee-190929161609096.html|archive-date=30 October 2019|url-status=live}} The co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council accused Turkey of vetoing the representation of Syrian Kurds within the committee.{{Cite news|url=https://ahvalnews.com/syrian-constitutional-committee/turkey-vetoed-inclusion-syrian-kurds-constitutional-committee|title=Turkey vetoed inclusion of Syrian Kurds in constitutional committee – official|website=Ahval|date=2 October 2019 |language=en|access-date=30 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030140104/https://ahvalnews.com/syrian-constitutional-committee/turkey-vetoed-inclusion-syrian-kurds-constitutional-committee|archive-date=30 October 2019|url-status=live}} The Kurdish administration also organized demonstrations in front of the UN office in Qamishli to protest their exclusion from the committee.{{Cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20191002-syria-s-kurds-protest-exclusion-from-constitutional-committee|title=Syria's Kurds protest exclusion from constitutional committee|date=2 October 2019|publisher=France 24|language=en|access-date=30 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030140106/https://www.france24.com/en/20191002-syria-s-kurds-protest-exclusion-from-constitutional-committee|archive-date=30 October 2019|url-status=live}}

{{See also|Saudi Arabia–Syria relations}}

On 13 April 2023, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived in Jeddah to meet Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan. After frayed relations during the Syrian civil war, both nations now seek "a political solution to the Syrian crisis that preserves the unity, security and stability of Syria", according to the Saudi foreign ministry. The high level talks are "facilitating the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, and securing humanitarian access to the affected areas in Syria". Al-Assad previously visited the UAE, Oman as well as Saudi Arabia. The discussion also included the possible resumption of consular services between the two countries. This is the first visit to Saudi Arabia by a Syrian foreign minister since the onset of the civil war in 2011. The same week all foreign ministers of the Arab League would meet again to discuss the return of Syria to the regional organisation."[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/12/syrian-fm-makes-first-visit-to-saudi-arabia-since-2011 Syrian FM makes first visit to Saudi Arabia since 2011]", AlJazeera. 13 April 2023. Accessed 13 April 2023.[https://www.arabnews.com/node/2285821/saudi-arabia "Saudi Arabia and Syria discuss political solutions to latter's crises"] Arab News. 13 April 2023. Accessed 13 April 2023.

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| image1 = Umayyad-mosque-aleppo-2013.png

| caption1 = Great Mosque of Aleppo in 2013, after destruction of the minaret.

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| alt1 = Great Mosque of Aleppo in 2013, after destruction of the minaret.

| caption2 = Most of Raqqa suffered extensive damage during the Second Battle of Raqqa

| alt2 = Most of Raqqa suffered extensive damage during the 2nd Battle of Raqqa.

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United Nations authorities have estimated that the war in Syria has caused destruction amounting to about $400 billion.{{cite web |url=https://en.radiofarda.com/a/sanctions-on-damascus-and-tehran-have-led-to-serious-fuel-shortages-in-syria/29880330.html |title=Sanctions On Damascus And Tehran Have Led To Serious Fuel Shortages In Syria |date=14 April 2019 |access-date=14 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414223031/https://en.radiofarda.com/a/sanctions-on-damascus-and-tehran-have-led-to-serious-fuel-shortages-in-syria/29880330.html |archive-date=14 April 2019 |url-status=live}} The SNHR reported in 2017 that the war has rendered around 39% of Syrian mosques unserviceable for worship. More than 13,500 mosques were destroyed in Syria between 2011 and 2017. Around 1,400 were dismantled by 2013, while 13,000 mosques were demolished between 2013 and 2017.{{Cite news |last=Celik |first=Ersin |date=1 September 2017 |title=Over 13,500 mosques destroyed in Syria |work=Yeni Safak |url=https://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/over-13500-mosques-destroyed-in-syria-2788861 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905105402/https://www.yenisafak.com/en/world/over-13500-mosques-destroyed-in-syria-2788861 |archive-date=5 September 2017}} According to a Syrian war monitor, over 120 churches have been damaged or demolished by during the course of Syrian war since 2011, 60% of which attacks were perpetrated by pro-Assad forces.{{cite web|url=https://www.citynews1130.com/2019/09/09/report-over-120-churches-damaged-war-in-syria-since-2011/|title=Report: Over 120 churches damaged war in Syria since 2011|website=citynews1130.com|date=9 September 2019 |access-date=10 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921075911/https://www.citynews1130.com/2019/09/09/report-over-120-churches-damaged-war-in-syria-since-2011/|archive-date=21 September 2019|url-status=live}}

During the course of the war, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said that Syria would be able to rebuild the war-torn country on its own. {{As of |July 2018}}, the reconstruction is estimated to cost a minimum of US$400{{spaces}}billion. Assad said he would be able to loan this money from friendly countries, Syrian diaspora and the state treasury.{{cite news|url=http://tass.com/world/1010788|title=Syrians will reconstruct country after war themselves, Assad says|newspaper=Tass |access-date=2 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627192505/http://tass.com/world/1010788|archive-date=27 June 2018|url-status=live}} Iran has expressed interest in helping rebuild Syria.{{Cite news |date=9 September 2023 |title=Iran Criticizes its 'Meager' Share in Rebuilding of Syria |url=https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/4535566-iran-criticizes-its-%E2%80%98meager%E2%80%99-share-rebuilding-syria |work=Asharq Al Awsat}} One year later this seemed to be materializing, Iran and the Syrian government signed a deal where Iran would help rebuild the Syrian energy grid, which has taken damage to 50% of the grid.{{cite news |url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iran-syria-electricity/iran-strikes-initial-deal-to-rebuild-syrian-power-grid-idUKKBN1XC07L |title=Iran strikes initial deal to rebuild Syrian power grid |newspaper=Reuters |date=2 November 2019 |access-date=2 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102122614/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iran-syria-electricity/iran-strikes-initial-deal-to-rebuild-syrian-power-grid-idUKKBN1XC07L |archive-date=2 November 2019 |url-status=dead}} International donors have been suggested as one financier of the reconstruction.{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/06/reconstructing-syria-break-mold-160614080700416.html|title=Reconstructing Syria: The need to break the mould|first=Yezid|last=Sayigh|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=2 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625021554/https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/06/reconstructing-syria-break-mold-160614080700416.html|archive-date=25 June 2018|url-status=live}} {{As of |November 2018}}, reports emerged that rebuilding efforts had already started. It was reported that the biggest issue facing the rebuilding process is the lack of building material and a need to make sure the resources that do exist are managed efficiently. The rebuilding effort have so far remained at a limited capacity and has often been focused on certain areas of a city, thus ignoring other areas inhabited by disadvantaged people.{{cite web|url=https://www.citymetric.com/fabric/upon-land-soaked-blood-architects-planning-reconstruction-syria-4298|title="Upon land soaked with the blood": on the architects planning the reconstruction of Syria – CityMetric|website=citymetric.com|access-date=20 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215223511/https://www.citymetric.com/fabric/upon-land-soaked-blood-architects-planning-reconstruction-syria-4298|archive-date=15 December 2018|url-status=live}}

Various efforts are proceeding to rebuild infrastructure in Syria. Russia says it will spend $500{{spaces}}million to modernize Syria's port of Tartus. Russia also said it will build a railway to link Syria with the Persian Gulf.[https://www.timesofisrael.com/russia-to-modernize-syria-port-build-railway-across-syria-to-persian-gulf/ Russia to modernize Syria port, build railway across Syria to Persian Gulf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218144315/https://www.timesofisrael.com/russia-to-modernize-syria-port-build-railway-across-syria-to-persian-gulf/ |date=18 December 2019 }}. Major commercial projects could potentially make it easier for Tehran to increase its influence in Israel's northeastern neighbor.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/syria-security-russia-grains/update-1-russia-to-invest-500-mln-in-syrian-port-build-grain-hub-interfax-idUSL8N28R32J|title=UPDATE 1-Russia to invest $500 mln in Syrian port, build grain hub -Interfax – Reuters|newspaper=Reuters|date=18 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218142152/https://www.reuters.com/article/syria-security-russia-grains/update-1-russia-to-invest-500-mln-in-syrian-port-build-grain-hub-interfax-idUSL8N28R32J|access-date=10 January 2020|archive-date=18 December 2019}} Russia will also contribute to recovery efforts by the UN.{{cite web|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/12/18/5-russian-syrian-projects-announced-this-week-a68655|title=5 Russian-Syrian Projects Announced This Week – The Moscow Times|date=18 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218142118/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/12/18/5-russian-syrian-projects-announced-this-week-a68655|access-date=15 January 2020|archive-date=18 December 2019}} Syria awarded oil exploration contracts to two Russian firms.{{cite web|url=https://www.oilandgas360.com/syria-hands-oil-exploration-contracts-to-two-russian-firms/|title=Syria hands oil exploration contracts to two Russian firms – Oil & Gas 360|date=18 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218143018/https://www.oilandgas360.com/syria-hands-oil-exploration-contracts-to-two-russian-firms/|access-date=15 January 2020|archive-date=18 December 2019}}

Syria announced it is in serious dialogue with China to join China's "Belt and Road Initiative" designed to foster investment in infrastructure in over one-hundred developing nations worldwide.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/16/syria-serious-dialogue-china-joining-belt-road-initiative-says/|title=Syria in 'serious dialogue' with China about joining Belt and Road initiative, says Assad|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=17 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217125043/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/16/syria-serious-dialogue-china-joining-belt-road-initiative-says/|access-date=15 January 2020|archive-date=17 December 2019|last1=Ensor|first1=Josie}}{{cite web |url=https://www.silkroadbriefing.com/news/2019/12/17/syria-reaches-join-chinas-belt-road-initiative/ |title=Syria Reaches Out To Join China's Belt & Road Initiative | publisher=Silk Road Briefing |date=17 December 2019 |access-date=18 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218142838/https://www.silkroadbriefing.com/news/2019/12/17/syria-reaches-join-chinas-belt-road-initiative/ |archive-date=18 December 2019 |url-status=live }} On Wednesday 12 January 2022, China and Syria signed a memorandum of understanding in Damascus. The memorandum was signed by Fadi al-Khalil, the Head of Planning and International Cooperation Commission for the Syrian Side and Feng Biao, the Chinese ambassador in Damascus for the Chinese side. The memorandum sees Syria join the initiative whose aim is to help expand cooperation with China and other partner countries in areas such as trade, technology, capital, human movement and cultural exchange. Among other things, it aims to define the future of this cooperation with partner states.{{cite web|title=Syria, China sign MoU in framework of Silk Road Economic Belt Initiative|url=https://sana.sy/en/?p=260411|date=12 January 2022|access-date=15 January 2022}}

{{Syrian peace process}}

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{{main|Syrian caretaker government|Syrian Revolution Victory Conference|Syrian transitional government|Syrian peace process}}

On 8 December 2024, hours after the fall of Damascus, which was carried out with Turkey's approval,{{Cite web |last=Haddad |first=Bassam |date=December 18, 2024 |title=The Runaway Dictator and prospects for resistance to foreign aggression |url=https://mondoweiss.net/2024/12/the-runaway-dictator-and-prospects-for-resistance-to-foreign-aggression/ |website=mondoweiss}} Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, the outgoing prime minister and last head of government of the Ba'athist regime, agreed to lead the transitional government in a caretaking capacity.{{Cite web |date=9 December 2024 |title=Syrian prime minister says government is still functioning but foreign and domestic challenges loom |url=https://whnt.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-israel-says-it-has-struck-suspected-chemical-weapons-sites-and-long-range-rockets-in-syria/ |access-date=9 December 2024 |website=WHNT.com |language=en-US}} He then transferred power to Mohammed al-Bashir, prime minister of the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG), two days later.{{Cite web |date=9 December 2024 |title=Mohammed al-Bashir assigned to form new Syrian government |url=https://en.ammonnews.net/article/76979 |access-date=10 December 2024 |website=Ammon News |language=EN}} On 10 December, the transitional administration announced that it would remain in place until 1 March 2025{{update inline|date=March 2025}}, with all ministers from the SSG taking up their same posts in the new provisional government.{{cite web |date=10 December 2024 |title=Mohammed al-Bashir officially the head of the transitional government in Syria until March 2025 |url=https://www.independentarabia.com/node/613575/%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A9/%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AA/%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%B1%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%89-%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B3-2025 |access-date=10 December 2024 |website=Independent Arabia}}

A few days prior to the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian American Council (SAC) successfully lobbied for the Caesar Act sanctions to be renewed via the US National Defense Authorization Act 2025 (NDAA 2025). However, after the fall of Assad on 8 December 2024 and establishment of the Syrian caretaker government, the SAC failed to have the sanctions clause removed from the bill in time.{{cite news|url=https://www.newarab.com/news/despite-extending-2029-syria-caesar-act-temporarily-paused|work=The New Arab|title=Despite extending to 2029, Syria Caesar Act temporarily 'ceased to be in effect' |date=24 December 2024|access-date=27 December 2024}} On 23 December, the Biden administration signed NDAA 2025 into law,{{cite news|work=Politico|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/23/biden-signs-defense-bill-despite-transgender-care-restrictions-00195980|date=23 December 2024|access-date=27 December 2024|title=Biden signs defense bill despite transgender care restrictions}} renewing the sanctions for another five years, with Reason magazine labeling the sanctions "a serious obstacle to Syria's reconstruction" post-Assad.{{cite web|work=Reason.com|url=https://reason.com/2024/12/26/congress-sanctions-a-syrian-government-that-no-longer-exists/|date=26 December 2024|access-date=27 December 2024|title=Congress Sanctions a Syrian Government That No Longer Exists}}

On 29 January 2025, Syrian de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa was appointed President of Syria by the Syrian General Command for the transitional period and held the Syrian Revolution Victory Conference.{{Cite web |date=29 January 2025 |title=General Command appoints Ahmed al-Sharaa as President of Syria |url=https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2025/01/general-command-appoints-ahmed-al-sharaa-as-president-of-syria/ |access-date=15 February 2025 |website=Enab Baladi}} In his first address as president, al-Sharaa said that he would hold a "national dialogue conference" and issue a "constitutional declaration" to serve as a "legal reference" during the political transition following the dissolution of the 2012 Constitution of Ba'athist Syria.{{Cite web |date=31 January 2025 |title=Syria: Ahmed al-Sharaa vows to pursue criminals in first interim president speech |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czep8kyeeyyo |access-date=31 January 2025 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=30 January 2025 |title=Ahmed al-Sharaa named Syria's transitional president |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8d9r0vg6v7o |website=BBC}} Al-Sharaa promised to go after war criminals belonging to the former regime.{{Cite news |date=29 January 2025 |title= President al-Sharaa and no more Baath party: What else has Syria announced?|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/29/president-al-sharaa-and-no-more-baath-party-what-else-has-syria-announced|work=Al Jazeera}}{{Cite web |date=31 January 2025 |title=Syria's interim president vows to preserve 'civil peace' in first address |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250130-syria-qatar-discuss-reconstruction-during-emir-s-visit |access-date=31 January 2025 |website=France 24 |language=en}} Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) leader Mazloum Abdi congratulated al-Sharaa on assuming the Syrian presidency and invited him to visit northeast Syria. The SDF agreed to integrate into state institutions on 10 March 2025 and the Suwayda Military Council agreed to the same on 12 March 2025, marking the unification of all Syrian revolutionary factions into the transitional government.{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/10/syria-merges-kurdish-led-syrian-democratic-forces-into-state-institutions|title=Syria merges Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into state institutions|access-date=10 March 2025|date=10 March 2025|website=Al Jazeera English}}{{cite web|url=https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2025/03/governor-of-as-suwayda-signs-understanding-agreement-with-al-hijri-key-details-unveiled/|title=Governor of As-Suwayda signs understanding agreement with al-Hijri: Key details unveiled|date=12 March 2025|access-date=12 March 2025|website=Enab Baladi}}

On 29 March 2025, the Syrian transitional government was announced by al-Sharaa at a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Damascus,{{Cite web |title=نص الإعلان الدستوري لسوريا 2025 |url=https://www.aljazeera.net/encyclopedia/2025/3/14/%D9%86%D8%B5-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B9%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7-2025 |access-date=29 March 2025 |website=الجزيرة نت |language=ar}} in which the new ministers were sworn in and delivered speeches outlining their agendas.{{Cite web |date=29 March 2025 |title=وزراء الحكومة السورية يقدمون خططهم ويؤدون القسم الدستوري |url=https://www.syria.tv/%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%88%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%8A%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%AE%D8%B7%D8%B7%D9%87%D9%85-%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%A4%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B3%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A |access-date=29 March 2025 |website=Syria TV (Fadaat Media) |language=ar}} The government replaced the Syrian caretaker government which had been formed following the fall of the Assad regime.{{Cite web |title=At protest, Tel Aviv mayor vows to shut down the country if the government ignores a High Court ruling |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-march-29-2025/ |access-date=29 March 2025 |website=www.timesofisrael.com |language=en-US}}

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{{Portal|Asia|Current events|Middle East|Modern history}}

{{div col}}

• Belligerents in the Syrian civil war

• 2010s in Syria political history
• Cities and towns during the Syrian civil war
• Eastern Syria insurgency
• Inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian civil war
• Rojava conflict
• Timeline of the Syrian civil war

• Spillover of the Syrian civil war
• Syria chemical weapons program
• Syrian Captagon industry
• Syrian–Turkish border clashes during the Syrian civil war
• Terrorism in Syria
• Spillover of the Israel–Hamas war in Syria
• Syrian civil war in popular culture
• Fall of the Assad regime

• Casualty recording
• Human rights violations during the Syrian civil war
• Control of cities during the Syrian civil war
• List of Syrian defectors
• List of aviation shootdowns and accidents during the Syrian civil war
• List of terrorist incidents in Syria

• Northwestern Syria offensive (April–June 2015) ("Battle of Victory")
• Battle of Yarmouk Camp (2015)
• 2024 Syrian opposition offensives
• Fall of Damascus

• Syrian civil war ceasefires
• Syrian Democratic Council
• Syrian diaspora
• Syrian peace process
• White Helmets (Syrian civil war)

• Iraqi insurgency (2011–2013)
• Islamist uprising in Syria from 1976 until 1982
• List of wars involving Syria
• War in Iraq (2013–2017)

{{div col end}}

{{clear}}

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last1=Allsopp|first1=Harriet|last2=van Wilgenburg|first2=Wladimir|title=The Kurds of Northern Syria. Volume 2: Governance, Diversity and Conflicts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9vWlDwAAQBAJ|date=2019|publisher=I.B. Tauris|location=London; New York City; etc.|isbn=978-1-8386-0445-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Lister|first=Charles R.|title=The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency|url=https://archive.org/details/CharlesR.ListerTheSyrianJihadAlQaedaTheIslamicStateAndTheEvolutionOfAnInsurgency.|date=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=9780190462475}}
• {{cite book|last=Zabad|first=Ibrahim|title=Middle Eastern Minorities: The Impact of the Arab Spring|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XiAlDwAAQBAJ|date=2017|publisher=Routledge|location=London; New York City|isbn=978-1-472-47441-4}}

• {{Cite report |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/comparative-metrics-isis-and-failed-state-wars-syria-and-iraq-0 |title=The Comparative Metrics of ISIS and 'Failed State Wars' in Syria and Iraq |last1=Cordesman |first1=Anthony H. |last2=Markusen |first2=Max |date=23 March 2016 |publisher=Center for Strategic and International Studies |location=Washington, DC |chapter-url=https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/publication/160302_Syria_Iraq_ISIS_III-Syria.pdf |chapter=Part Three: Stability and Conflict in Syria}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Hinnebusch |first=Raymond |year=2012 |title=Syria: From 'Authoritarian Upgrading' to Revolution? |journal=International Affairs |volume=88 |issue=1 |pages=95–113 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2346.2012.01059.x}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Landis |first=Joshua |title=The Syrian Uprising of 2011: Why the Asad Regime Is Likely to Survive to 2013 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4967.2012.00524.x |journal=Middle East Policy |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=72–84 |year=2012|doi-access=free }}
• {{Cite book |last=Malek |first=Alia |author-link=Alia Malek |year=2017 |title=The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria |publisher=PublicAffairs |isbn=978-1-56858-532-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GnT8sgEACAAJ }}
• {{Cite book |last=Pearlman |first=Wendy |year=2017 |title=We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-265445-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5BoGDQAAQBAJ }}
• {{cite book |last1=Sorenson |first1=David S. |title=Syria in Ruins: The Dynamics of the Syrian Civil War |date=2016 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-3837-8 |language=en}}
• {{Cite book |last=van Dam |first=Nikolaos |author-link=Nikolaos van Dam |year=2017 |title=Destroying a Nation: The Civil War in Syria |publisher=I. B. Tauris |isbn=978-1-78672-248-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MARsDgAAQBAJ }}

{{sister project links|c=Category: Syrian civil war|d=yes|q=no|n=yes|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|s=no|species=no}}

• [https://www.ecowatch.com/syria-another-pipeline-war-1882180532.html Ecowatch – Syria: Another Pipeline War]

{{Syrian civil war}}

{{Russia–United States relations}}

{{Iran–Saudi Arabia relations}}

{{Iran–United States relations}}

{{Iran–Israel proxy conflict}}

{{Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict}}

{{Middle East conflict}}

{{Authority control}}

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Category:Bashar al-Assad