Natacha Danon

While the immediate threat of open war between Iran and Israel has receded in the wake of this month’s unprecedented escalation, the risk of renewed conflict lingers. Syria—fertile ground for another spark—remains a place to watch.

As Syrians mark the 13th anniversary of the March 2011 uprising, activists reflect on the state of the women’s movement after more than a decade of revolution and war. In the face of conflict, displacement and persecution, what remains of it today?

One year after the February 6 earthquake, tens of thousands of Syrian survivors are still homeless, without enough support to repair and rebuild their homes. Aid workers stress the importance of early recovery to facilitate returns and provide livelihoods.

Millions of Syrians face hunger with the suspension of all in-kind WFP food aid this month, in part due to major cuts to US funding. US aid cuts of up to 50 percent are expected across all humanitarian sectors in 2024, senior humanitarian sources said.

For Syrians and Syrian-Palestinians, crackdowns on expressions of solidarity with Palestine have exposed a “double standard” in European democracies and reopened old wounds. As the political climate hardens, they fear their full participation in European society is increasingly at risk.

Amid fears of war between Israel and Hamas spiraling into a regional conflagration, analysts weigh the impact of regional players and assess the likelihood of another front in Syria.

For Syrians in France, recent confrontations between protesters and police have revived memories of the revolution and the ‘trauma of war,’ while provoking new anxieties around the country’s future and their place in it.

The slow international response to the crisis in northwestern Syria after the February 6 earthquake highlights the central role of aid workers in both Turkey and Syria, whose staff raced to respond while being themselves impacted.