U.S. envoy doubles down on support for Syria's government and criticizes Israel's intervention
BEIRUT — A U.S. envoy doubled down on Washington's support for the new government in Syria, saying Monday there is 'no Plan B' to working with the current authorities to unite the country still reeling from a nearly 14-year civil war and now wracked by a new outbreak of sectarian violence.
Tom Barrack took a critical tone toward Israel's recent intervention in Syria, calling it poorly timed and saying that it complicated efforts to stabilize the region.
Barrack, who is ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy to Syria and also has a short-term mandate in Lebanon, made the comments in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press during a visit to Beirut. He spoke following more than a week of clashes in the southern province of Sweida between militias of the Druze religious minority and local Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribes.
Syrian government forces intervened, ostensibly to restore order, but ended up siding with the Bedouins before withdrawing under a ceasefire agreement with Druze factions. Hundreds have been killed in the fighting, and some government fighters allegedly shot dead Druze civilians and burned and looted their houses.
In the meantime, Israel intervened last week on behalf of the Druze, who are seen as a loyal minority within Israel and often serve in its military. Israel launched dozens of strikes on convoys of government forces in Sweida and also struck the Syrian Ministry of Defense headquarters in central Damascus.
Over the weekend, Barrack announced a ceasefire between Syria and Israel, without giving details. Syrian government forces have redeployed in Sweida to halt renewed clashes between the Druze and Bedouins, and civilians from both sides were set to be evacuated Monday.
U.S. envoy says Israeli intervention 'came at a very bad time'
Barrack told the AP that 'the killing, the revenge, the massacres on both sides' are 'intolerable,' but that 'the current government of Syria, in my opinion, has conducted themselves as best they can as a nascent government with very few resources to address the multiplicity of issues that arise in trying to bring a diverse society together.' At a later press conference he said the Syrian authorities 'need to be held accountable' for violations.
Regarding Israel's strikes on Syria, Barrack said: 'The United States was not asked, nor did they participate in that decision, nor was it the United States responsibility in matters that Israel feels is for its own self-defence.'
However, he said that Israel's intervention 'creates another very confusing chapter' and 'came at a very bad time.'
Prior to the conflict in Sweida, Israel and Syria had been engaging in talks over security matters, while the Trump administration had been pushing them to move toward a full normalization of diplomatic relations.
When the latest fighting erupted, 'Israel's view was that south of Damascus was this questionable zone, so that whatever happened militarily in that zone needed to be agreed upon and discussed with them,' Barrack said. 'The new government (in Syria) coming in was not exactly of that belief.'
The ceasefire announced Saturday between Syria and Israel is a limited agreement addressing only the conflict in Sweida, he said. It does not address the broader issues between the two countries, including Israel's contention that the area south of Damascus should be a demilitarized zone.
In the discussions leading up to the ceasefire, Barrack said 'both sides did the best they can' to came to an agreement on specific questions related to the movement of Syrian forces and equipment from Damascus to Sweida.
'Whether you accept that Israel can intervene in a sovereign state is a different question,' he said.
He suggested that Israel would prefer to see Syria fragmented and divided rather than a strong central state in control of the country.
'Strong nation states are a threat — especially Arab states are viewed as a threat to Israel,' he said. But in Syria, he said, 'I think all of the the minority communities are smart enough to say, we're better off together, centralized.'
A Damascus deal with Kurdish forces still in play
The violence in Sweida has deepened the distrust of minority religious and ethnic groups in Syria toward the new government in Damascus, led by Sunni Muslim former insurgents who unseated Syria's longtime autocratic ruler, Bashar Assad, in a lightning offensive in December.
The attacks on Druze civilians followed the deaths of hundreds of civilians from the Alawite minority, to which Assad belongs, earlier this year in sectarian revenge attacks on the Syrian coast. While interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has promised to protect minorities and punish those who target civilians, many feel his government has not done enough.
At the same time, Damascus has been negotiating with the Kurdish forces that control much of northeast Syria to implement an agreement that would merge the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces with the new national army.
Barrack, who spoke to SDF leader Mazloum Abdi over the weekend, said he does not believe the violence in Sweida will derail those talks and that there could be a breakthrough 'in the coming weeks.'
Neighbouring Turkiye, which wants to curtail the influence of Kurdish groups along its border and has tense relations with Israel, has offered to provide defence assistance to Syria.
Barrack said the U.S. has 'no position' on the prospect of a defence pact between Syria and Turkiye.
'It's not in the U.S.'s business or interest to tell any of the surrounding nations with each other what to do,' he said.
Hezbollah disarmament remains a thorny issue
Barrack's visit to Lebanon came amid ongoing domestic and international pressure for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to give up its remaining arsenal after a bruising war with Israel that ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement in November.
Speaking at a press conference in Beirut Monday, Barrack said the ceasefire agreement 'didn't work.'
Israel has continued to launch near-daily airstrikes in Lebanon that it says are aimed at stopping Hezbollah from rebuilding its capabilities. Hezbollah has said it will not discuss disarming until Israel stops its strikes and withdraws its forces from all of southern Lebanon.
While the U.S. has been pushing for Hezbollah's disarmament, Barrack described the matter as 'internal' to Lebanon.
'There's no consequence, there's no threat, there's no whip, we're here on a voluntary basis trying to usher in a solution,' he said. He added that the U.S. 'can't compel Israel to do anything' when it comes to the ceasefire.
Abby Sewell, The Associated Press
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