Multiple explosive devices detonated near the hotel where French President Emmanuel Macron was staying in Damascus on Tuesday, shortly after his motorcade left for a meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, according to a report. The French presidency said Macron did not hear the explosions and arrived safely at the presidential palace. Syrian authorities sealed off nearby roads. The cause of the blasts and whether there were casualties remain unclear.
French President Emmanuel Macron was unharmed and did not hear the explosions, the French presidency confirmed Tuesday, after multiple explosive devices detonated near his hotel in Damascus shortly after his motorcade left for a meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. The blasts occurred around 11:00 Jerusalem, and Macron arrived safely at the presidential palace. Syrian authorities sealed off nearby roads; the cause and any casualties remain unclear.
The incident caps a rapid sequence of reports Tuesday morning. At 11:13 Jerusalem, a Syrian security source told Al-Akhbariya that two improvised explosive devices had detonated and internal security forces were searching for suspects — with no casualty figures yet. Minutes later, at the same timestamp, Syrian reports put the death toll at three. Also at 11:13, the Elysee Palace confirmed Macron was unharmed and had already departed. By 11:14 and 11:21, The Zioneer reported Macron had arrived at al-Sharaa's palace and that an explosive device — later described as planted on a vehicle — had detonated near the hotel after he left. The current report, from the French presidency, states multiple devices were involved and that Macron did not hear the blasts.
The explosions occurred on the second day of Macron's Damascus visit — the first by a Western head of state since the fall of the Assad regime, as The Zioneer reported Monday. Earlier Tuesday, Macron toured the Umayyad Mosque with de facto leader Abu Muhammad al-Jolani.
It remains unclear what caused the blasts, whether they were targeted at Macron's visit specifically, and what the full casualty count is. The Syrian investigation is ongoing.
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