
First Jordanian flight lands in Syria's Aleppo International Airport after relaunch
LONDON: The first Jordanian flight landed at Aleppo International Airport in northern Syria on Sunday after the airport's relaunch last week.
The Jordanian flight carried an official delegation whose aim is to enhance cooperation between Syria and Jordan, reaffirming the revival of civilian activity at the airport, the SANA agency reported.
Last week, Aleppo airport reopened for flights after nearly three months of closure caused by the offensive by rebel groups against Bashar Assad's regime in early December. Aleppo is the country's second-largest city after the capital and an important industrial and trade center.
Maintenance and restoration work by Syrian authorities allowed air traffic to and from Aleppo to resume. Authorities announced that Aleppo will begin receiving international flights, facilitating the return of nearly 10 million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey and Europe. It will also enable local and foreign investors to visit the city, SANA added.
In January, international flights to and from Damascus resumed for the first time since the fall of Assad with a direct flight from Doha — the first in 13 years.

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Arab News
9 hours ago
- Arab News
Will Lebanon learn from Al-Sharaa's government?
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Israel will define its size, the limits of its capabilities and its influence. Al-Sharaa did not attack Israel in his speeches. Nor did he inflate statements with false claims of confrontations and victories. Abdulrahman Al-Rashed Neighboring Syria is facing a similar situation, but it has chosen a different approach. Bashar Assad's regime has collapsed, just like Hezbollah's grip has weakened, leaving behind a complex legacy to navigate with the region's 'superpower' neighbor. Israeli forces are also present on Syrian soil and continue to frequently target Syrian sites. Amid this complex situation, President Ahmad Al-Sharaa's government has managed to turn crisis into opportunity — and has earned global praise not only for what it has done, but for what it has deliberately chosen not to do. It quickly abandoned the head-in-the-sand approach of previous regimes, which failed to address internal and external politics with realism. Al-Sharaa did not attack Israel in his speeches. 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But that now seems impossible given Israel's insistence on a policy of preempting any force that poses a threat to its borders. Note that Egypt, Jordan and Syria — under their treaties with Israel — agreed to regulate weapon types and distances from the border, something Hezbollah used to reject. Yet, under last year's ceasefire agreement, it accepted withdrawing from the south of the Litani River, surrendering its heavy weapons and military production platforms, and dismantling its infrastructure. Second, Hezbollah could reposition itself as a purely local force. This would require acknowledging the shift in the balance of power and abandoning its role as a threat to Israel or as a bargaining chip for Iran. It may try to keep its weapons to maintain dominance in Lebanon. To counter that, Lebanese and Israeli authorities could cooperate — Israel providing Beirut with intelligence on hidden arms and the Lebanese side carrying out raids and seizures. But Hezbollah is skilled at the game of hiding — though the current environment is tougher than before. This time, there is no escape, even after sidelining US mediator Morgan Ortagus, whom Hezbollah and its allies portray as Benjamin Netanyahu's puppet. The reality is that it is Israel — not the US — that now dictates Lebanon's course. This is underscored by the unprecedented scale of recent Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs. The Lebanese presidency has promised to restore full state sovereignty by disarming Hezbollah and ending Lebanon's role as a proxy warfront. So far, it has not succeeded. Without this, the country will remain fragile and investment will stay limited. Lebanon's future over the next 10 to 20 years hinges on what happens in these very days, transforming the country from a militia playground into a sovereign state focused on its internal affairs and the needs of its citizens. This is exactly what Al-Sharaa is doing in Syria — with courage and cunning — even though his circumstances are arguably far more difficult and dangerous than those faced by Lebanon's leadership. And it is false to claim that the world simply rushed to support Al-Sharaa — not at all. He set his priorities clearly, forged his own alliances and refused to be blackmailed by local or regional propaganda about 'jihad' or the 'enemy.' His task now is to fight the remnants and separatists, repair the economy and focus on rebuilding a state that has been collapsing since the end of the Cold War.


Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
Contractor in Syria uncovers a surprise beneath the rubble: an ancient tomb complex
MARAAT AL-NUMAN, Syria: A contractor digging into the earth where the rubble of a destroyed house had been cleared away in northern Syria stumbled across a surprise: the remains of an underground Byzantine tomb complex believed to be more than 1,500 years old. The discovery emerged last month in the town of Maarat Al-Numan in Idlib province, which is strategically located on the route between the cities of Aleppo and Damascus. The community became a touchpoint in the nearly 14-year Syrian civil war that ended with the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December. Assad's forces seized the area back from opposition control in 2020. Houses were looted and demolished. Aerial images of the area show many houses still standing but without roofs. Now residents are beginning to return and rebuild. In the course of a reconstruction project, stone openings were uncovered indicating the presence of ancient graves. Residents notified the directorate of antiquities, which dispatched a specialized team to inspect and secure the site. Aboveground, it's a residential neighborhood with rows of cinder-block buildings, many of them damaged in the war. Next to one of those buildings, a pit leads down to the openings of two burial chambers, each containing six stone tombs. The sign of the cross is etched into the top of one stone column. 'Based on the presence of the cross and the pottery and glass pieces that were found, this tomb dates back to the Byzantine era,' said Hassan Al-Ismail, director of antiquities in Idlib. He noted that the discovery adds to an already rich collection of archaeological sites in the area. Idlib 'has a third of the monuments of Syria, containing 800 archaeological sites in addition to an ancient city,' Al-Ismail said. The Byzantine Empire, which began in the 4th century AD, was a continuation of the Roman empire with its capital in Constantinople — today's Istanbul — and Christianity as its official religion. Abandoned Byzantine-era settlements called Dead Cities stretch across rocky hills and plains in northwest Syria, their weathered limestone ruins featuring remnants of stone houses, basilicas, tombs and colonnaded streets. In the past, the owners of sites where archaeological ruins were found sometimes covered them up, fearful that their property would be seized to preserve the ruins, said Ghiath Sheikh Diab, a resident of Maarat Al-Numan who witnessed the moment when the tomb complex was uncovered. He said he hoped the new government will fairly compensate property owners in such cases and provide assistance to the displaced people who have returned to the area to find their homes destroyed. The years of war led to significant damage to Syria's archaeological sites, not only from bombing but from looting and unauthorized digging. Some see in the ruins a sign of hope for economic renewal. Another local resident, Abed Jaafar, came with his son to explore the newly discovered tombs and take pictures. 'In the old days, a lot of foreign tourists used to come to Maarat just to see the ruins,' he said. 'We need to take care of the antiquities and restore them and return them to the way they were before … and this will help to bring back the tourism and the economy.'


Saudi Gazette
2 days ago
- Saudi Gazette
Al-Falih: Saudi Arabia is keen on supporting Syrian economy's stability
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