The following is a timeline of the Syrian civil war for 2023. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found in Casualties of the Syrian civil war.

Overview

As of 2023, active fighting in the conflict between the Syrian government and rebel groups had mostly subsided, but there were occasional flareups in Northwestern Syria.Twelve years on from the beginning of Syria’s war By Al Jazeera Staff ,15 Mar 2023.Security Council: 12 years of war, leaves 70 per cent of Syrians needing aid, 25 January 2023, UN official website. In early 2023, reports indicated that the forces of ISIS in Syria had mostly been defeated, with only a few cells remaining in various remote locations.Sixteenth report of the Secretary-General on the threat posed by ISIL (Da’esh) to international peace and security and the range of United Nations efforts in support of Member States in countering the threat, UN official website, February 2023.CENTCOM – YEAR IN REVIEW 2022: THE FIGHT AGAINST ISIS, USCENTCOM, official website of US Army Central Command, Dec. 29, 2022.Ex-Islamic State fighters still pose a risk in Turkey, finds report, By Joshua Askew, March 1, 2023.

As of 2023, Turkey was continuing its support for various rebel groups within Syria, which periodically attempted some operations against Kurdish groups.Operation Claw-Sword Exposes Blind Spots in the US’ NE Syria Strategy by Caroline Rose, Aram Shabanian, Calvin Wilder, March 7, 2023, website of new Lines Institute. One stated goal was to create "safe zones" along Turkey's border with Syria, according to a statement by Turkish President Erdoğan. The operations were generally aimed at the Tal Rifaat and Manbij regions west of the Euphrates and other areas further east. President Erdoğan openly stated his support for the operations, in talks with Moscow in mid-2022.

In early 2023, Turkish-backed rebel groups carried out attacks against Kurdish forces, using tanks and artillery.Turkish occupation launches more than 43 attacks on Mediay areas, March 21, 2023, hawarnews website.

In March 2023, the Syrian government declared that it would not seek any reconciliation with Turkey, unless Turkey withdrew all of its proxy forces from Syria. This statement occurred in response to diplomatic efforts by Russia, which sought to encourage Syria and Turkey to seek reconciliation, and restoration of diplomatic ties.Turkey-Syria summit postponed at last minute as Russia nudges rivals to reconcile, The two countries' deputy foreign ministers plus those of Russia and Iran had been due to meet to discuss further rapprochement efforts, by Andrew Wilks, March 16, 2023, Al-Monitor website.

In late March, Russia announced that it would host a summit which would include deputy foreign ministers from Russia, Syria, Iran, and Turkey.Moscow to host Syria, Turkey, Iran, Russia meeting – official sources, By Reuters, March 28, 2023.Moscow to halt quadruple meeting in April, March 29, 2023, albawaba news website.

In August 2023, renewed civil protests broke out across government-controlled regions of southern Syria.

Stalemate in civil conflict, renewed relations with Assad government In early 2023, various sources reported that the conflict had settled into low-level conflict, which had mainly achieved a stalemate. One source stated:

The war whose brutality once dominated headlines has settled into an uncomfortable stalemate. Hopes for regime change have largely died out, peace talks have been fruitless, and some regional governments are reconsidering their opposition to engaging with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. The government has regained control of most of the country, and Assad’s hold on power seems secure. Meanwhile, the Syrian people are suffering an economic crisis, and a massive earthquake at the start of 2023 cast much of the population in the north into further despair.The civil uprising against the longtime rule of the Assads deteriorated into protracted civil war. Here’s a look at the elements that have deepened Syria’s tragedy.By Zachary Laub, February 14, 2023. One major NGO stated:

Twelve years into Syria’s devastating civil war, the conflict appears to have settled into a frozen state. Although roughly 30% of the country is controlled by opposition forces, heavy fighting has largely ceased and there is a growing regional trending toward normalizing relations with the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Over the last decade, the conflict erupted into one of the most complicated in the world, with a dizzying array of international and regional powers, opposition groups, proxies, local militias and extremist groups all playing a role. The Syrian population has been brutalized, with nearly a half a million killed, 12 million fleeing their homes to find safety elsewhere, and widespread poverty and hunger. Meanwhile, efforts to broker a political settlement have gone nowhere, leaving the Assad regime firmly in power.Syria’s Stalemate Has Only Benefitted Assad and His Backers. On the conflict’s 12th anniversary, everyday Syrians face a dire humanitarian situation, while Assad’s grip on power holds steady. Tuesday, March 14, 2023 / BY: Mona Yacoubian

Conflict with Turkish forces In 2023, the main military conflict was not between the Syrian government and rebels, but rather between Turkish forces and factions within Syria. In late 2023, Turkish forces continued to attack Kurdish forces, in the region of Rojava, Turkey is trying to bomb Rojava out of existence, By Sarah Glynn, 9th October 2023.

January

On 2 January, as part of Israel's continuing strikes against Syrian and Iranian targets, Israeli warplanes conducted several airstrikes on the Damascus International airport, killing 2 Syrian soldiers and temporarily putting the airport out of service.

On 4 January, 5 Manbij Military Council fighters were killed and another was injured by a remnant ISIS landmine whilst driving on a road near the village of Al-Said Ibrahim in the Manbij countryside.

On the same day, an Islamic State fighter was killed in clashes with SDF operatives in the village of Al-Zir, north of Mayadin.

On 7 January, 2 Pro-Assad fighters were killed in 2 separate attacks conducted by ISIS cells in the al-Rasafah and Palmyra deserts.

On 9 January, casualties were inflicted on a Pro-Assad militia near the town of Al-Jalaa in the Deir-ez-Zor countryside, after ISIS militants attacked Syrian military positions in the area. One ISIS militant was killed in the clashes.

On 10 January, joint forces of the US-led coalition and forces of the SDF launched a counter-terror operation in the village of Al-Sabaa wa Arbain where 2 ISIS fighters had barricaded themselves inside a house. One ISIS militant killed himself by detonating a suicide vest and the other was shot dead by the joint forces.

Between 10 and 11 January, as part of the ongoing clashes on the Idlib frontline 12 Syrian soldiers and 3 HTS militants were killed in violent clashes.

On 22 January, at least 16 civilians were killed after a damaged house collapsed in the city of Aleppo.

On 23 January, forces of the Syrian Army's 17th Division found the bodies of 9 dead militiamen of the Afghan Liwa Fatemiyoun militia, that fights for the Syrian government, in the desert near Al-Masrab. The patrol went missing in the area on 18 January. The militiamen had been stripped and slaughtered on the spot, likely by ISIS cells.

On the same day, 3 Syrian soldiers were killed after ISIS operatives, under the cover of fog, attacked a Syrian Army outpost near the Taqba Airbase.

On 25 January, 3 SDF fighters were killed after two ISIS operatives opened fire on an SDF checkpoint in the village of al-Hawaij in the Deir ez-Zor countryside.

On 30 January just after midnight, at least 10 people were killed in several airstrikes conducted by unidentified drones in the town of Abu Kamal near the Syria-Iraq border. Reports suggest trucks filled with Iranian weapons were the target of the attack.

February

On 2 February, Turkish defence minister, Hulusi Akar announced the defence ministries of Turkey, Syrian and Russia will hold a meeting in Moscow to try and agree to a rapprochement and normalisation of relations between Syria and Turkey.

On 6 February, a magnitude 9 strike-slip earthquake took place along the East Anatolian Fault on the border of Turkey and Syria. The earthquake left tens of thousands dead and many more injured.

On 7 February, at least 20 ISIS fighters escaped a prison in the town of Raju, in the northern Afrin countryside, near Turkey, after the organisation bribed a prison guard.

On 10 February, 2 ISIS operatives, one of them an Iraqi, were killed in a joint Coalition-SDF raid near the town of Al-Suwar in the Deir ez-Zor countryside.

On the evening of 11 February, at least 75 people were abducted by ISIS in the Palmyra desert in the western Homs countryside. At least 12 of the abductees were executed including a Syrian soldier.

On 17 February, at least 68 people, including 7 Syrian soldiers, were killed in an ISIS attack on a large group of truffle farmers in the desert near Al-Sukhnah.

On 19 February, just after midnight, 15 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Damascus.

Later that day, 6 SNA fighters were killed in an ambush by ISIS operatives in the Tuwainan area of the Raqqa countryside.

On 24 February, a senior Iraqi militant of Hurras al-Din and another individual were killed in a Coalition airstrike in the village of Mashhad Ruhin in Idlib.

On 27 February, 10 civilians were killed and 12 others were injured by possible remnant ISIS landmines east of Salamiyah.

March

On 2 March, 8 civilians were killed and 35 were wounded after a civilian farming truck drove over a suspected ISIS landmine near Kobajjep in the Syrian desert.

On 4 March, in the southern Raqqa countryside, a shepherd was killed and 1,000 sheep were stolen after an ISIS attack.

At midnight on 8 March, 3 people were killed after Israeli warplanes bombed and temporarily shut down Aleppo's airport.

On the same day, at least 7 people were killed in a suspected Israeli drone strike on an alleged weapon factory in Deir ez-Zor city.

On 9 March, amid ongoing insurgent attack in Daraa Governorate, a Syrian Army patrol was ambushed on the Daraa-Damascus highway in southern Syria. 3 Syrian soldiers and an insurgent were killed in the ambush.

On the same day, Syrian forces lost contact with NDF patrol, consisting of 'Al-Bosaraya' tribesmen, in the Jabal Bishri area of the Syrian desert. All 12 militiamen were found dead in the area in the following weeks.

On 11 March, ISIS militants attacked a group of truffle farmers in the Khanaser desert south of Aleppo. 3 farmers were executed on the spot by the ISIS attackers whilst another 26 others were abducted.

On 15 March, the war entered its twelfth year. The anniversary was marked by protests in rebel-held areas like Idlib, where protesters vowed to 'continue the revolution against the al-Assad regime.'

On 17 March, 9 'anti-terror' SDF fighters were killed in a double helicopter crash in the Duhok Governorate of Iraq.

On 19 March, Israeli operatives assassinated 31-year-old Ali Ramzi al-Aswad a Palestinian Islamic Jihad member in Damascus.

On 20 March, fighters of Ahrar al-Sharqiyah killed 4 ethnic Kurds in the town of Jindires, northern Syria, after opening fire into a crowd celebrating Newroz.

On the same day, 2 NDF militiamen were killed by a landmine whilst combing the desert near Palmyra for ISIS cells.

On 23 March, 19 people, including 16 Iranian-backed militiamen and 3 Syrian soldiers, were killed in a set of American airstrikes in the city of Deir ez-Zor and the towns of Mayadin and Abu Kemal. The airstrikes follow a drone attack on an American base in the al-Hasakha countryside, in which an American contractor was killed and 7 soldiers were injured.