Few options for Syria’s Assad to strike back after Israeli raids

Published on May 6, 2013

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has few good options for military retaliation after Israel's air strikes over the weekend but the attacks could redouble support from his regional allies Iran and Hezbollah.

Assad threatens to retaliate against Israel as shells land on Golan

Published on March 3, 2013

Syrian President Bashar Assad said that his country would retaliate against Israel for a January air strike on a weapons facility near Damascus, a day after mortar shells fired from Syria landed in northern Israel.

In Aleppo, Syrian rebels bogged down in sniper war

Published on October 18, 2012

Plucking up his courage, a young boy ducks and darts down a bullet-scarred street in Aleppo, as a rebel with a megaphone shouts directions.

Western troops in place to protect Jordan from Syrian spillover

Published on October 15, 2012

Ahmed Thiabat sits on his balcony in Jordan overlooking the Syrian town of Tal Shehab just over the Syrian border. This once tranquil farmland has become a battleground for troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and rebels fighting to unseat him.

Hezbollah claims responsibility for drone that entered Israeli airspace

Published on October 11, 2012

Lebanese Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged on Thursday sending a drone aircraft that was shot down last weekend after flying some 25 miles into Israel.

Iran’s Ahmadinejad says election, not war, solution for Syria

Published on October 2, 2012

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said a national dialogue leading to elections was the way towards a solution to Syria's crisis, in remarks broadcast on Tuesday.

Catch-2012

Published on September 5, 2012

The Syrian army loyal to Bashar Assad recently retook Daraya, a suburb of Damascus. Daraya had been in the hands of the rebels. The Syrian armed forces came in with tanks and armored personnel carriers. As troops advanced on foot, the fighters of the rebel Free Syrian Army withdrew. The retaking of Daraya by Assad’s army was the culmination of three days of helicopter gunship attacks that took a huge toll on the rebel army.

Syrian town deserted, burned after clashes

Published on June 14, 2012

The Syrian town of Haffeh was smoldering and nearly deserted on Thursday after days of clashes between government forces and rebels, while activists reported more army assaults on pro-opposition areas across the country.

Israel urges tougher action against Assad

Published on May 30, 2012

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called on Wednesday for tougher world action against Bashar al-Assad, saying he doubted the Syrian president "lost an hour's sleep" over the expulsion of his envoys from several capitals after the Houla massacre.

West pushes U.N. Syria vote despite Russian criticism

Published on April 13, 2012

Western powers brushed aside Russian criticism of a U.S.-drafted Security Council resolution authorizing an advance team of U.N. observers to monitor Syria's fragile ceasefire and said on Friday they hoped to put it to a vote this weekend.

Call for Friday protests is first test of Syria truce

Published on April 12, 2012

Syrian opposition activists called mass protests for Friday to test a fragile, day-old ceasefire by President Bashar al-Assad's forces, and international pressure mounted for Damascus to fully comply with a U.N.-backed peace plan.

Syria storms out of U.N. rights meeting

Published on February 28, 2012

Syria's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva stormed out of the U.N. Human Rights Council Tuesday after demanding angrily that countries stop "inciting sectarianism and providing arms" to opposition forces in his country.

Hamas ditches Assad, backs Syrian revolt

Published on February 24, 2012

Leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas turned publicly against their long-time ally President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on Friday, endorsing the revolt aimed at overthrowing his dynastic rule.

‘Friends of Syria’ to demand ceasefire

Published on February 23, 2012

Western and Arab nations will demand that Syrian forces implement an immediate ceasefire to allow relief supplies to reach desperate civilians in bombarded cities such as Homs when they meet in Tunis on Friday.

Start planning now for transition in Syria

Published on February 15, 2012

Syria is in the midst of a civil war. The common wisdom both from inside and out is that the Assad dynasty is doomed to follow the plight of Ben Ali in Tunisia, Mubarak in Egypt, and Gadhafi in Libya, not to mention Saddam Hussein in Iraq. The questions are how, when and how many more dead.

AJC, ADL press U.N. for firmer action against Syria

Published on August 4, 2011

A U.N. Security Council statement condemning Syria's crackdown on dissidents was inadequate, the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League said.