US strike in Iraq eliminates top Islamic State leader
A March 13 airstrike in Iraq’s Anbar province by US Central Command (CENTCOM) eliminated Abdallah Makki Muslih al Rifai, a senior leader of the Islamic State (IS) who may have served as the...
Jihadism
FDD Analysis
Israel strikes Palestinian Islamic Jihad command center in Damascus
The state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that Israel targeted a building in the Mashoura Dummar neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, with an airstrike on March 13. The attack wounded...
Op-eds
‘No Impunity’: Israel Strikes Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Damascus
Daylight Sortie Over Syrian Capital: The Israeli Air Force struck a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) command center in Damascus on March 13. The site, located in the Dummar suburb...
Flash Briefs
After SDF-Damascus deal, a spotlight on US forces in Syria
On March 10, Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), signed an agreement with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al Sharaa. The deal outlines a plan to integrate the SDF and other...
Op-eds
What Does Israel Want With Syria?
As Syria faces continued conflict, Israel may be planning a wider confrontation with the new government.
Op-eds
Why did Syria’s Kurds sign a deal with the new regime?
On March 10, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) signed an agreement with Syria’s interim government, integrating the SDF’s 100,000-strong, predominantly Kurdish force into the new Syrian...
Op-eds
Hundreds Killed in Syria as Transitional Government Clashes With Alawite Insurgency
Massive Fighting on Syrian Coast: At least 400 people including 300 civilians have reportedly been killed in three days of intense fighting between Syria’s transitional government...
Flash Briefs
Double Dhimmi: The Plight of Christian Women in the Middle East.
The systemic persecution of Christian women in the Middle East underscores a harrowing reality that their suffering is not just the collateral damage in a war of ideologies but a targeted assault on the very essence of pluralism. It's time the West acknowledged the plight of the Dhimmi in its own battle for freedom and dignity.
Op-eds
Trump Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: March
Welcome back to the Trump Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy. They provide trendlines...
Policy Tracker
Recent arrests of Islamic State sympathizers highlight persistent threats to US
In the early morning hours of January 1, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Army veteran from Houston, drove his rented truck into a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing...
Op-eds
Bridging the Gap
Turkey Between East and West
Legislative Testimonies
Nascent Syrian armed group emerges to confront Israeli forces
An armed organization calling itself The Islamic Resistance Front in Syria—Great Might (formerly known as The Front for the Liberation of the South) has issued statements warning the Israel Defense Forces...
Op-eds
Can Syria Survive?
On February 25, Syria held a National Dialogue Conference, which is supposed to help the country come together after years of civil war and the toppling of the Assad regime. Syria’s new president,...
Op-eds
Shabaab mounts coordinated assault north of Mogadishu
Since at least February 20, Shabaab, al Qaeda’s branch for East Africa, has mounted a sizable offensive in southern and central Somalia between the Middle Shabelle and Hiraan regions. In some areas,...
Op-eds
US kills Al Qaeda’s military commander for Syria
Video of CENTCOM's strike in northwestern Syria that killed Hurras al Din's overall military commander Muhammed Yusuf Ziya Talay. Hurras al Din is Al Qaeda's branch in Syria which claims to...
Op-eds
Syria’s National Dialogue Conference: A Missed Opportunity
Ahmad al-Sharaa, Syria’s interim president, pledged in December that the country’s national dialogue conference on February 25 would chart a clear course for the country’s transition...
Policy Briefs
‘Prepare for a Long Stay’: IDF Deploys Tanks in the West Bank for the First Time in Over 20 Years
IDF Tanks Enter West Bank Terror Hub: The IDF announced on February 23 that a tank platoon from the 188th Armored Brigade had been deployed to Jenin as part of an expansion of its...
Flash Briefs
10 Things to Know About Turkey’s Interventions and Influence in Syria
Turkey intends to position itself as the most influential foreign actor in Syria. Following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Turkey built close ties with jihadist militias fighting Bashar...
Insights
US military kills Al Qaeda facilitator in Syria
The US military killed a senior member of Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria in an airstrike in the northwestern part of the country on February 21.
Op-eds
Turkey Marginalized? How Trump’s Middle East Strategy is Rewriting Alliances
Nearly a month into Donald Trump’s second term as U.S. President, we are beginning to see the contours of his foreign policy in the Middle East. Having campaigned on a promise to prioritize American...