The meeting between the Syrian chief of staff and the Lebanese military official was the first since the Assad regime was ousted from power last month

The United Nations refugee chief says some 200,000 refugees have returned to Syria from neighboring countries since the government of Bashar Assad was overthrown last month.

The fall of the Assad regime will have a substantial impact on Lebanese politics, highlighting border tensions, refugee challenges, and Hezbollah’s influence. Normalization with Damascus depends on Lebanon’s domestic politics,

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister on Friday made his first visit to Syria since the fall of former president Bashar Al Assad and held talks with the country's new leader, Ahmad Al Shara.Prince Faisal bin Farhan's visit to Damascus comes as the Syrian transitional government seeks investments to help rebuild the country after 14 years of civil war.Prince Faisal called for lifting sanctions on Damascus after talks on Syria with top diplomats from the Middle East and Europe earlier this month.Mr Al Shara said Riyadh “will certainly have a large role in Syria's future”, pointing to “a big investment opportunity for all neighbouring countries”.Prince Faisal arrived in Damascus after meetings with Lebanon's leaders in Beirut on Thursday.Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister was last in Syria in April 2023, when he met Mr Al Assad on a landmark visit that ended more than a decade of strained relations between the two countries.Saudi Arabia and other countries severed ties with Syria in 2012 over Mr Al Assad's violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests that sparked civil war.The Assad family's five decades of rule over Syria ended in dramatic fashion last month as rebel factions led by Mr Al Shara's group, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, seized Damascus in a lightning offensive.The rebel victory came after Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, Mr Al Assad's main backers, were significantly weakened by Israeli attacks.Riyadh significantly reduced its footprint in Lebanon amid the growing strength of Hezbollah.

NEWS ANALYSIS. Between relief and apprehension, Lebanon is concerned about local repercussions of Syria's change of leadership.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called Thursday for cooperation between Syria's new authorities, host countries and donors to secure the return of 6.2 million Syrian refugees to their country.

After Damascus, Beirut now celebrates a new era with the election of a president, a position that Hezbollah had obstructed, leaving the post vacant since October 2022. This new phase in Lebanon concludes fifty years of regional exploitation of this small country,

Any prolonged Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon could breathe new life into Hezbollah, a group that was founded to liberate Lebanon from Israeli occupation and has portrayed itself as the only force capable of protecting Lebanon’s borders,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested Friday that his county’s military might not withdraw all of its forces from Lebanon by this weekend’s deadline set in its ceasefire with Hezbollah

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud will visit Damascus on Friday and meet with top officials in the new Syrian administration, a Syrian official said on Thursday.

The rebel offensive benefited from careful preparation and the support of Turkey, which occupies territory in Syria’s north and provided the only safe access route to Idlib, where HTS was based. Even so,