The United States has announced the extension of the national emergency over Syria for an additional year.

The White House stated in a press release on Thursday, October 10, that “the situation in and in relation to Syria undermines the campaign to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, endangers civilians, and further threatens to undermine the peace, security, and stability in the region.”

The White House added that the security developments in Syria also pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States; for this reason, the national emergency must continue for another year.

On October 14, 2019, former President Donald Trump approved the declaration of a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to deal with the “extraordinary” threat to US national security and foreign policy.

The executive order at the time imposed sanctions on Turkey due to its military operation along the border with Syria, which included sanctions against several senior Turkish officials, including the ministers of defense and energy.

The military operation at that time was named “Peace Spring” and was launched by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on October 9, 2019, targeting areas where the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were located east of the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria.

The operation ended with the Turkish army and the Syrian National Army (a local formation supported by Turkey) taking control of areas extending from the city of Ras al-Ain in northeastern al-Hasakah to the city of Tal Abyad in northern Raqqa.

The US Congress passed the National Emergency Act in 1976, which grants the executive branch, headed by the president, the authority to deal with emergencies decisively.

The president is allowed to avoid any restrictions on his decisions regarding crisis management, provided he confirms the existence of “unusual and serious threats to national security and US interests.”

Under the law, the president is permitted to declare a state of emergency for one year, which can be renewed annually.

The US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) stated on October 8 that the United States continues to defend itself against attacks launched against its military bases in Syria and Iraq, without providing details about recent attacks that targeted these bases.

In July, US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that ISIS is attempting to reconstitute itself, as it monitored a doubling of the organization’s operations in Syria and Iraq compared to 2023.

CENTCOM added that between January and June, the organization claimed responsibility for 153 attacks in Iraq and Syria.

It noted that this rate indicates that the ISIS organization is on track to reach double the total number of attacks it claimed responsibility for in 2023, highlighting that it is attempting to reconstitute itself after several years of reduced capabilities.