Bio
Ammar Hamou
Ammar Hamou is a Senior Editor. Originally from East Ghouta outside the Syrian capital, Ammar studied journalism at Damascus University. He has participated in numerous journalism trainings in the US, Europe and Jordan, and has published in-depth research on the Syrian conflict.
Latest Articles
A new vocabulary in Damascus with the end of a ‘republic of fear’
Damascus residents speak with a new tone, using new words, as entrenched fears unravel with the fall of the Assad regime. Still, concerns remain about what awaits in a new Syria.
Cells, interrogation rooms, inscriptions: The need to protect evidence in Assad’s prisons
In the chaotic, jubilant process of emptying Assad’s prisons—including the notorious Saydnaya on the outskirts of Damascus—misinformation has spread and crucial evidence has been tampered with, SNHR’s Nour al-Khatib tells Syria Direct.
Restrictions on local journalists in northeastern Syria multiply
For journalists, northeastern Syria is a minefield of unspoken red lines. While the AANES says it is committed to freedom of the press, restrictions have proliferated in recent years.
Syrians arrested amid Gaza protests face deportation from Jordan
Atia Abu Salem, a Syrian refugee in Jordan arrested on his way to a pro-Gaza demonstration this month, is facing deportation. The families of “many Syrians” among the more than 1,500 people detained amid recent protests are keeping quiet, afraid of “escalation.”
‘Ambiguous relationship’: Where does Latakia stand on Suwayda’s movement?
When Suwayda’s protest movement began in August 2023, it met with echoes on the Syrian coast, where “a chorus of individual voices” openly criticized the regime from a region considered Assad’s base. But while Suwayda’s uprising continues, the voice of the coast has waned. Why?
Fleeing the homeland: Real estate sales finance migration from Hama city
Nearly 13 years after the revolution, Syrians continue to flee the country—this time for economic reasons. In regime-held Hama city, financial hardship is driving a renewed wave of migration, as residents sell homes and property to fund a way out.
From Idlib to Gaza: Syrians demonstrate in solidarity with Palestinians
Residents of Syria’s opposition-held northwest demonstrate in support of Palestinians facing displacement and bombardment in Gaza—an experience many of them share.
On the 12th anniversary of the revolution, Syrians look for a way forward
On the twelfth anniversary of the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in March 2011, “everything is different on the ground from what it was the first year,” its course far from the aspirations of those who took part.
In northwestern Syria, the afflicted rush to each other’s aid amid international community’s inaction
Racing against time, civilian survivors of the earthquake in northwestern Syria helped search through the rubble, bury the dead and care for the living this week, driven by feelings of responsibility for their community and the lack of an immediate international response.
‘Running out of breath’: Have Syrians been left to face the earthquake alone?
Rescue teams in several countries have mobilized to help Turkey rescue the victims of Monday’s devastating earthquake, but so far no aid or personnel have entered northwestern Syria, where residents are turning to displacement camps as a refuge.