{"id":784806,"date":"2026-07-07T12:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T12:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/784806\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T12:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T12:59:11","slug":"explosions-rock-damascus-near-hotel-hosting-french-president-emmanuel-macron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/784806\/","title":{"rendered":"Explosions rock Damascus near hotel hosting French President Emmanuel Macron"},"content":{"rendered":"

Explosions have rocked the Syrian capital during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Damascus, the first by a European head of state since the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024.<\/p>\n

The \u00c9lys\u00e9e Palace said Mr Macron did not hear the blasts, and his motorcade continued through the streets to a meeting with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa.<\/p>\n

Video circulating on social media showed the wreckage of a vehicle on fire after the first explosion, near the Syrian Tourism Ministry and Damascus’ Four Seasons hotel \u2014 a popular location for foreigners and dignitaries to stay in the city.<\/p>\n

A second video showed smoke billowing over the area, before another explosion was seen in what appears to be a rubbish bin, with people fleeing in the aftermath.<\/p>\n

\"Emergency<\/p>\n

Emergency vehicles at the site where explosive devices were detonated near the Damascus hotel of French President Emmanuel Macron. (Reuters: Yamam Al Shaar)<\/p>\n

Syrian state television is reported to have said 18 people were injured in two explosions, including four police officers. An assistant to the country’s tourism minister is believed to be among those hurt.<\/p>\n

Mr Macron had been meeting Syrian civil society groups in the area before the explosions.<\/p>\n

He later met with rebel leader turned politician, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, at the Syrian Presidential Palace.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Emmanuel Macron with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa at the People’s Palace in Damascus on Tuesday. (Reuters: Mahmoud Hassano)<\/p>\n

While French and Syrian officials have not formally commented on which hotel Mr Macron was staying at, likely for security reasons, Syrian state news agency SANA has all but confirmed he was at the Four Seasons.<\/p>\n

“The site of the explosion is outside the security perimeter designated for the French president’s residence, and did not pose any direct threat to the residence or to the official visit program, which is continuing according to the planned schedule,” the agency reported.<\/p>\n

Goal of deeper ties with Western nations<\/p>\n

In late 2024, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, then known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, led rebel forces across Syria and forced dictator Bashar al-Assad to flee the country to Russia.<\/p>\n

The trauma faced by children returned from Syria<\/a><\/p>\n

Jasmine was five years old and so traumatised that when she woke up trying to scream, she couldn’t make a sound.<\/p>\n

Since assuming the presidency, the former Al Qaeda commander has been speaking of his desire to unite the various competing factions within Syria and forge deeper ties with Western nations after years of bloody civil war resulted in the country being ostracised from much of the world.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump is among those Al-Sharaa has been able to win over, with the United States lifting crippling economic sanctions on Syria after a meeting between the pair arranged by Turkiye’s Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.<\/p>\n

Mr Al-Sharaa faces significant challenges, including containing forces still loyal to the former Assad regime and dealing with the threat posed by the former Islamic State, which continues to operate in parts of Syria.<\/p>\n

Mr Macron’s visit to Syria, including an overnight stay, was seen as very significant \u2014 the Syrian government viewing France as an important partner in Europe, enhancing its credentials as it seeks to return to the world stage.<\/p>\n

Last week, a cafe in central Damascus was bombed, killing nine people and injuring another 20.<\/p>\n

No group had claimed responsibility for the attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Explosions have rocked the Syrian capital during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Damascus, the first by a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[311464,370835,370838,370836,43,44,66180,370837,370839,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-784806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-damascus","tag-emmanual-macron","tag-four-seasons-hotel","tag-french-president","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-syria","tag-syrian-president-ahmed-al-sharaa","tag-syrian-tourism-ministry","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}