Nadene Goldfoot
Aleppo is still a city of major importance in Syria. It was called by the Jews who lived there, Aram-Zobah (Ps.60:2) and its Jewish community was one of the oldest in the world. The area was occupied by Amorites by the latter part of the third millennium BC. That is also the time at which Aleppo is first mentioned in cuneiform tablets unearthed in Ebla and Mesopotamia, which speak of it as part of the Amorite state of Yamhad, and note its commercial and military importance. Such a long history is attributed to its strategic location as a trading center between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia.For centuries, Aleppo was the largest city in the Syrian region, and the Ottoman Empire's third-largest after Constantinople (now Istanbul) and Cairo. The city's significance in history has been its location at one end of the Silk Road, which passed through Central Asia and Mesopotamia.
The Al-Hayyat mosque was formerly a synagogue, dating from the 6th century. Our very ancient researcher, Benjamin of Tudela, found 1,500 Jews living there in about 1170 CE, and later in the Middle Ages the community assumed some importance, being the home of many men of learning. Spanish Jews settling there after 1492 (Columbus) reinvigorated the community.
The Jewish community in Aleppo, Syria, played a foundational role in regional and international commerce, specializing heavily in textile manufacturing, silk, dyeing, and long-distance trade along historic caravan routes from the Ottoman era onward.
Before 1914's 1st World War, there were 14,000 Jews in Aleppo, but the number dwindled by emigration, mainly to America and England. At the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Aleppo lost its northern hinterland to modern Turkey, as well as the important Baghdad Railway connecting it to Mosul. After the U.N. decision of November 1947 to partition Palestine, anti-Jewish riots took place in Aleppo and many more Jews fled. The community numbered only 400 by 1991. It's main occupations were trade and peddling.
The Jewish quarters contained many ancient synagogues, the oldest being the Mustaribah (destroyed in 1947 riots) the main part of which dated from the 4th century: here a famous 10th century masoretic codex of the Bible, now in Israel, corrected by Ben Asher, was formerly preserved.
Aleppo serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the country's most populous governorate. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents as of 2021, it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and was the largest by population until it was surpassed by Damascus, the capital of Syria. Aleppo is also the largest city in Syria's northern governorates and one of the largest cities in the Levant region.
The battle of Aleppo occurred in the city during the Syrian civil war, and many parts of the city suffered massive destruction. It began with the Syrian revolution in March 2011, when popular discontent with the Ba'athist regime ruled by Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring. The Assad regime responded to the protests with lethal force, which led to a series of defections, the emergence of armed opposition groups, and the civilian uprising descending into a civil war. The war lasted almost 14 years and culminated in the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
Affected parts of the city are currently undergoing reconstruction. An estimated 31,000 people were killed in Aleppo during the conflict.
- Aleppo recaptured; Russian/Iranian/Turkish-backed ceasefire (September 2016 – April 2017)
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On 15 October 2016, a Russian seven-ship Northern Fleet task force composed of the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, the battlecruiser Pyotr Velikiy, two Udaloy-class destroyers, Severomorsk and Vice-Admiral Kulakov and a number of supply ships left Severomorsk for the Eastern Mediterranean to support Syrian government forces battling rebel troops in Aleppo. In 2016, the rebel troops in Aleppo belonged to an umbrella operations room called Fatah Halab (Conquest of Aleppo), alongside powerful Islamist factions like Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly Al-Nusra Front) and Ahrar al-Sham. These groups fought a fierce defense against the Syrian government and its international allies before losing control of eastern Aleppo in December 2016.
As a matter of fact, WASHINGTON (AP) — The 13-year civil war in Syria has roared back into prominence with a surprise rebel offensive on Aleppo, one of Syria's largest cities and an ancient business hub. The push is among the rebels' strongest in years in a war whose destabilizing effects have rippled far beyond the country's borders. Insurgents breach Syria's second-largest city Aleppo, fighters and a war monitor say It was the first opposition attack on Aleppo since 2016, when a brutal air campaign by Russian warplanes helped Syrian President Bashar Assad retake the northwestern city. Intervention by Russia, Iran and Iranian-allied Hezbollah and other groups has allowed Assad to remain in power, within the 70 percent of Syria under his control.
The surge in fighting has raised the prospect of another violent front reopening in the Middle East, at a time when U.S.-backed Israel is fighting Hamas terrorists in Gaza and Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon, both Iranian-allied groups.
Position of Aleppo in 2026 today: In January 2026, Aleppo came under the full control of the Syrian transitional government and army following a decisive military offensive that dismantled the remaining Kurdish-led SDF presence in the Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafieh districts. The city has since experienced relative calm, alongside ongoing humanitarian coordination and reconstruction efforts in the historic center.
Reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi9lPQjfXIw&t=691s
was formerly preserved.
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