A series of explosive devices blew up near a hotel where Emmanuel Macron is currently staying in Damascus, according to a security source.The reasons behind the explosions in the Syrian capital are currently unknown.The French president landed in Syria on Monday, in the first visit to Damascus by a European Union head of state since rebels ‌led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled Bashar al-Assad in 2024.Macron did not hear the explosions that occurred on Tuesday morning, his office said, confirming he was safe. Macron was on his way to meet with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. The visit underlines Syria's geopolitical transformation under Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander who has established close ties with Western and Middle Eastern powers that shunned Assad, as he seeks to rebuild a country shattered by 13 years of war.'I am here to affirm France's commitment to the Syrian people. For a sovereign Syria, united in its diversity and at peace with its neighbours. Together, let's ​open a new page of stability and peace,' Macron said on X.Macron, who was greeted at Damascus airport by Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani, will hold a working dinner ​with Sharaa before further meetings on Tuesday, according to an agenda from the French presidency.Syria's reconstruction is set to be one of the key themes ⁠of the trip, and Macron will be accompanied by business leaders including the CEOs of TotalEnergies and French container shipping group CMA CGM, a French presidential official told reporters ahead of ​the visit.Macron will also stress France's commitment to a free, pluralistic Syria that respects all of its communities and meet Syrians from all backgrounds and affiliations, the official added. Emergency personnel work as smoke and fire rise at the site where explosive devices blew up near a hotel where French President Emmanuel Macron was meant to be staying France's President Emmanuel Macron (R) shakes hands with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa during a visit to the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, on July 6 Syrian security forces patrol near France's President's hotel during his visit in Damascus on July 7WATCH: Multiple explosive devices detonated near the Damascus hotel where French President Emmanuel Macron is staying, according to a Reuters security source. The blasts occurred during Macron’s landmark visit, the first by a major Western leader to post Assad Syria. The story…— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 7, 2026 Sharaa, a member of ​Syria's Sunni Muslim majority, has pledged to build an inclusive new order in Syria since ending more than five decades of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family. But his promise has been tested by bouts of violence pitting pro-government forces against members of religious and ethnic minority groups, with many hundreds killed last year. The French presidential official said that Syria could only be a partner for France if pluralism is fully taken into account, ​and that it was out of the question for France that one form of exclusive power should simply replace another. Sharaa met Macron during a visit to France last year, his first ​to a European country since toppling Assad. Macron was a leading voice calling for the lifting of Western sanctions, which were largely removed last year.Sharaa, who severed ties with al ‌Qaeda in 2016, ⁠has steered Syria into a new era, a shift reflected in his close ties with US President Donald Trump. Last year, Damascus joined the US-led global coalition against Islamic State. Trump has recently raised the possibility of Syrian forces combatting the Iran-backed Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah, which fought alongside Assad in the Syrian conflict. The French presidential official said that Macron had made it very clear to Sharaa that Syria should under no circumstances send forces into Lebanon, and that Sharaa had said he would not do so, regardless of any requests or pressure. Sharaa has previously denied what he ​called rumours about any Syrian presence entering ​Lebanon. Following Assad's ouster, France played a role ⁠mediating between Damascus and Syrian Kurdish groups that had established control over much of the north whilst fighting as part of the anti-IS alliance. Damascus and Syria's dominant Kurdish groups signed a US-backed integration deal in February, after government forces seized swathes of the Kurdish-controlled territory. Macron did not hear the explosions that occurred on Tuesday morning, his office said A series of explosive devices blew up near a hotel where Emmanuel Macron is currently staying in DamascusSyria specialist Arthur Quesnay said that Macron was a driving force behind the new Syrian leadership's normalisation of ties with Western countries.'He gave Sharaa a leg up on the international stage,' Quesnay said, adding that Macron 'needs to show it was a good bet'.Bassam Barabandi, a Syrian diplomat and founder of the Nexus MENA think tank, said that with a visit by Macron, France 'is telling the Americans that we have a share in the Syrian market as much as you have. And we would love to have influence in Syria the way you have'.But 'I think they came late and after many mistakes', he said, noting in particular French support for the autonomy of Syrian Kurds.With international support, Syria's Kurds were key to the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria during the civil war, leading to IS's territorial defeat there in 2019.Macron is eager for Sharaa to maintain his pledge to protect minorities, after sectarian bloodshed in the country's Alawite and Druze heartlands last year.France, which itself has seen deadly IS attacks, is also likely to have the fight against the jihadists on the agenda, after Syria joined the international anti-IS coalition last year.A handful of French jihadists are still present on Syrian soil.