Al-Hawl

al-Hawl
ٱلْهَوْل
Town
al-Hawl
Location of al-Hawl in Syria
Coordinates: 36°23′29″N 41°09′05″E / 36.3914°N 41.1514°E / 36.3914; 41.1514
CountrySyria
Governorateal-Hasakah
Districtal-Hasakah
Subdistrictal-Hawl
Control Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria
Elevation
452 m (1,483 ft)
Population
 (2004)
3,409
Time zoneUTC+2 (EET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+3 (EEST)
GeocodeC4519

Al-Hawl (Arabic: ٱلْهَوْل, romanized: al-Hawl, lit.'"swampland"'), also spelled al-Hole, al-Hol, al-Hool and al-Houl, is a town in eastern al-Hasakah Governorate, northeastern Syria, under control of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. It is the administrative center of the Al-Hawl Subdistrict consisting of 22 municipalities. At the 2004 census, the town had a population of 3,409. Al-Hawl is the site of the Al-Hawl refugee camp.

During the civil war, al-Hawl was seized by Islamic State forces, becoming one of the major IS strongholds in northeastern Syria. On 13 November 2015, al-Hawl was captured by the SDF, in what was considered as the first strategic success by the newly established SDF.