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Syrian Minister of Economy Dr. Nidal Al-Shaar (left) meets with Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih (right) during an official visit in Damascus, Syria, on July 23, 2025.

Rami Alsayed/NurPhoto

What We’re Watching: Saudi invests in Syria rebuild, Ukraine and Russia seek cash, Thai-Cambodia border battle escalates

Saudi seeks a piece of the Syrian pie

Saudi Arabia has pledged to invest $6 billion to rebuild the war-torn Syrian economy, an amount that represents roughly 30% of Syria’s 2023 GDP. Still, the investment is just a tiny fraction of the estimated $400 billion in reconstruction funds that Syria needs. We’re watching to see if the Saudi move spurs other regional powers to take the plunge too – either as partners or rivals to Saudi influence. Meanwhile, Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa must try to keep a lid on sectarian violence and deal with ongoing attacks from a wary Israel. (Read more here.)

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Members of Syrian security forces ride on a back of a truck after Syrian troops entered the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria July 15, 2025.

REUTERS

What’s behind Syria’s surging sectarian violence?

The latest round of deadly sectarian violence in Syria started off small. Last Sunday, a Bedouin tribe reportedly robbed and attacked a Druze man at a checkpoint in southern Syria, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The incident quickly escalated into a battle that has left more than 350 people dead and drawn in not only Syrian government forces, but also Israel, which intervened forcefully under the pretext of protecting the Druze.

The clashes add to a series of sectarian flare-ups since the fall of the Assad dictatorship seven months ago. In March, forces aligned with the government massacred nearly 1,500 Alawites in response to a failed rebellion by Assad loyalists within the community, and in April, dozens were killed when the Druze clashed with security forces near Damascus.

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Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and US President, Donald Trump, meet with the Syrian president Ahmad Al-Sharaa

REUTERS

Trump pledged to lift Syria sanctions, can Damascus seize the moment?

When US President Donald Trump promised to lift sanctions on Syria this week, the streets of Damascus erupted in celebration.

“It was a huge, huge day for Syrians,” says Ibrahim al-Assil, a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., who is from the Syrian capital.

“Many people, my relatives and friends in Damascus, they are saying the same thing: ‘this is the second biggest day in my life after the fall of the regime!’”

For a country battered by more than a decade of war and mass emigration, Trump’s announcement has flung open a window of opportunity that few thought possible as recently as December. That was when current president Ahmed al-Sharaa, a one-time Al-Qaeda member, led a coalition of militias that overthrew the Assad dictatorship.

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People celebrate after fighters of the ruling Syrian body ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Aleppo, Syria, December 13, 2024.

REUTERS/Karam al-Masri

From Assad to Uncertainty

Syria’s new leadership claims it wants to prioritize stability and reconstruction over further conflict – but will that be possible? With Israel fortifying the Golan Heights, Turkey expanding its influence, and Russia retreating, we’re watching this week if Syria and its neighbours will manage to get along — and how allies and adversaries will react.

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