bashar al-, donald j, assad, correspondents, defense and military forces, gaza strip, hamas, hezbollah, international relations, iran, iran-israel proxy conflict, iraq, islamic state in iraq and syria (isis), israel, journalists, lebanon, media, mena, middle east, news, politics, politics and government, syria, trump, ukraine, united states, united states international relations, al-shara, nuclear weapons, rafael, grossi, ali