Arbin (; also spelled Irbin or Arbeen) is a town in southern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, administratively part of the

Markaz Rif Dimashq District Markaz Rif Dimashq District () or Damascus Central Countryside District is a district of the Rif Dimashq Governorate in southern Syria. Geography Markaz Rif Dimashq is located south of the Damascus Governorate covering the southeastern outskirts ...

of the

Rif Dimashq Governorate Rif Dimashq Governorate (, Literal translation, lit. "Damascus Countryside Governorate" or "Damascus Suburb") is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the southwestern part of the country. ...

, located just east of

Jobar Jobar () also Jawbar, Jober or Joubar, is a village on the outskirts of Damascus northeast of the old city walls. It contains the most venerated site for Syrian Jews, the 2,000-year-old Jobar Synagogue, named for the biblical prophet Elijah, a ...

neighborhood of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. Nearby localities include

Kafr Batna Kafr Batna (, also spelled Kfar Batna and Kafar Batna) is a town in the Rif Dimashq Governorate in southern Syria and a suburb of Damascus.Burns, 2005, pp1415Siddique, HaroonSyrian troops battle to retake Damascus suburbs ''The Guardian''. 2012-0 ...

and

Saqba Saqba (; also spelled Sakba or Siqba) is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Markaz Rif Dimashq District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, 7 km east of central Damascus. Nearby localities include Jisrin to the southeast, Kafr ...

to the south,

Zamalka Zamalka () is a town of Damascus in Syria, located east-northeast of Old Damascus. It is administratively a part of the Markaz Rif Dimashq District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate. Nearby localities include Jobar and Qaboun to west and northwest, ...

and

Ein Tarma Ein Tarma (), also spelled Ayn Tarma or Ain Terma, is a suburb of Damascus in Syria, located east of Old Damascus, just north of the Barada River, within an area called the Eastern Ghouta. It is administratively a part of the Arbin subdistrict ...

to the southwest, and Douma to the north. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Arbin had a population of 44,934 in the 2004 census.General Census of Population and Housing 2004
Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Rif Dimashq Governorate. Arbin is one of the suggested locations for the ancient town of

Riblah The ancient town of Riblah, today a tell covered by a cemetery not far from the town of Ribleh on the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon, was in biblical times located on the northern frontier of the land of Canaan. The site lies on the east ...

History

During the Syrian civil war, FSA took control of a number of

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

s north of the capital

, including Arbin on 2 July 2012. FSA fighters reportedly openly patrolled the streets of the suburbs, and clashes occurred less than from the center of Damascus city itself. In November 2012, there was sustained fighting in the town after a regain in strength of the rebels in Rif Dimashq. It was reported to be under rebel control as of 7 December 2012. In 2017–18, during the government siege of eastern Ghouta, Arbin was one of the towns targeted in multiple airstrikes by Syrian and Russian aircraft, for instance on 4 January 2018. In the end of March 2018, the Syrian army imposed their control over the area of Eastern Ghouta including Arbin. Arbin was recaptured by opposition forces in the 2024 Rebel Offensives and Fall of Damascus.

References

{{Rif Dimashq Governorate, markaz Populated places in Markaz Rif Dimashq District Towns in Syria