Syria-Israel Tensions

The United States removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday after a mandatory congressional review period expired, ending a designation that had been in place for 47 years.

The legal deadline for Congress to review the decision ended on Aug. 24, completing the legislative review phase, a Syrian foreign ministry adviser said. President Donald Trump first informed Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa of the decision on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Ankara on July 8. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the lifting of sanctions would open the door to international trade and investment, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move would help promote further investment in Syria.

The Trump administration has also lifted broader sanctions including those under the Caesar Act. Al-Sharaa previously led Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which toppled the Assad regime in December 2024, and the group was itself removed from the US terror list last year.

Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met Mossad chief Roman Gofman in Jordan on Sunday to de-escalate tensions after Israeli strikes hit the Abu al-Duhur airbase earlier this week.

The two sides discussed establishing a joint operations centre in Jordan under U.S. oversight, according to diplomatic sources, while Shaibani said the door to diplomacy with Israel remains open and that negotiations on a security agreement could resume soon. Israel and Syria agreed to maintain the status quo on security matters, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said. U.S. special envoy Tom Barrack said Washington is working on a mechanism to prevent conflict between Israel, Turkey and Syria. The proposed security deal would include buffer zones along the Israeli border monitored by the United Nations, Shaibani said, though he acknowledged Damascus currently does not trust Israel.

An explosive device struck a bus carrying Syrian Internal Security Forces personnel on the Maarounah-al-Tal road in the Damascus countryside, injuring multiple people. The blast severely damaged the vehicle, blowing out windows and tearing away a door, images published by state media showed.

The bus was used to transport security personnel at the start or end of their shifts, Al Jazeera reported. Syrian authorities said investigations are underway to identify those behind the attack, though no group has claimed responsibility. Official Syrian media have not yet released a precise casualty count.

The bombing follows a similar attack earlier this month in Jaramana that wounded 14 people, and two explosions in July near a hotel housing French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit, which killed one person and injured 36.

Syria condemned an Israeli drone strike on a civilian vehicle in the village of Beit Jinn, southwest of Damascus, calling it a blatant violation of sovereignty after at least one person was wounded. The Israeli military said it targeted a militant in the final stages of preparing an attack that posed an immediate threat.

The strike is the second known Israeli attack on Syria this week, following Tuesday's bombing of the Abu al-Duhur airbase near the Turkish border. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Syria was on the verge of breaching a security status quo by permitting Turkish troop deployments near Aleppo, a claim Ankara denied. U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack suggested the strike could amount to Israel baiting Turkey ahead of Israeli elections, an assertion Israel's defence minister dismissed as inaccurate.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since Bashar al-Assad's overthrow in December 2024, while simultaneously expanding its presence beyond the Golan Heights buffer zone.