The streets of Syria erupted Sunday as Alawite communities launched mass protests against the new government, resulting in several demonstrators being gunned down in what marks the most significant sectarian unrest since the fall of the Assad regime. The uprising, concentrated in historically Alawite regions, signals a dangerous new chapter in Syria's fractured landscape—one that carries profound implications for regional stability as power brokers from Washington to Jerusalem position themselves for 2026.
The timing proves particularly significant as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to meet President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago Monday for what officials describe as crucial negotiations on Gaza's future. Netanyahu arrives seeking firm American guarantees on three fronts: the ceasefire's second phase, the fate of remaining hostages, and the complete disarmament of Hamas. The stakes could hardly be higher—Gaza officials report 418 Palestinians killed in what they characterize as ceasefire violations over 80 days, while Hamas leadership demands a Palestinian Arab committee to govern the territory, effectively rejecting any Israeli security presence.
The Netanyahu-Trump summit comes as internal Israeli politics threaten to derail diplomatic progress. A proposal to reopen the Rafah crossing in both directions—conceived as a goodwill gesture toward the incoming Trump administration—collapsed after fierce opposition from National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The hardline ministers' veto power illustrates the precarious coalition dynamics that constrain Netanyahu's negotiating flexibility, even as international pressure mounts for humanitarian access to Gaza.
Meanwhile, Turkey's President Erdogan has issued stark warnings to Cyprus, Greece, and Israel, declaring Ankara will defend what he terms the 'legitimate interests' of occupied northern Cyprus. The declaration adds another volatile element to an already combustible Eastern Mediterranean, where Israeli military operations have touched six nations in 2025 alone—Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Qatar—according to conflict monitoring data. This geographic scope represents one of the broadest military offensives by any nation in a single year.
On Israel's domestic front, the delivery of the first combat-ready Iron Beam laser interception system to the IDF marks a technological milestone with profound defensive implications. The system, developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, has successfully intercepted rockets and mortar shells, potentially revolutionizing Israel's multi-layered defense architecture. Yet even as Israel's defensive capabilities advance, internal fractures deepen—hundreds of ultra-Orthodox protesters blocked a central highway Sunday over draft evasion arrests, with the extremist Jerusalem Faction warning that 'if you arrest Torah scholars, the state will also come to a halt.'
The prophet Zechariah spoke of Jerusalem becoming 'a cup of trembling' for surrounding peoples, and today's convergence of crises—Syrian sectarian violence, Gaza ceasefire fragility, Turkish territorial assertions, and Israeli domestic divisions—suggests we are witnessing the early stages of a regional realignment whose contours remain uncertain. Hezbollah's leader Naim Qassem rejected Lebanon's disarmament initiative as an 'Israeli-American plot,' while settlers attacked a Bedouin community near Jerusalem, vandalizing property in an incident that underscores the West Bank's simmering tensions.
As 2025 draws to a close, the region stands at an inflection point. The Monday summit at Mar-a-Lago may determine whether the fragile Gaza ceasefire advances to its next phase or collapses entirely. Observers should watch closely for any American security guarantees that emerge, the fate of the Rafah crossing proposal, and whether Syria's Alawite uprising spreads or is suppressed. The ancient lands of the Levant remain, as they have for millennia, the crucible where great power ambitions and prophetic destiny intersect.