US announces Syrian ceasefire, asserts both Israel and Syria have agreed to it

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack announced in a post on 𝕏 on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to an American-brokered ceasefire amid ongoing Islamist attacks on Syria’s Druze community. At least 500 people have been killed in recent days after Syrian regime forces and Islamist Bedouin fighters attacked the Druze-majority Suwayda (Suweida) region, located east of the Israeli Golan Heights.

Israel, which has close ties to the Druze community, vowed to protect the minority and responded with aerial strikes targeting Syrian regime forces. On Wednesday, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) also struck regime assets in Damascus, aiming to pressure the Al-Shara regime to withdraw from the Druze region.

Barrack, who was recently appointed as Washington’s special envoy to Syria, said that Turkey, Jordan, and other unnamed Middle Eastern states had “embraced” the ceasefire. He called on Syria’s diverse population groups to unite and work toward building a shared future for the country.

“We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity,” Barrack stated. However, with strong rivalries between various tribes, it is unclear whether it will be possible to unite the fractured Syrian society. 

At the time of this writing, neither the Syrian regime nor the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office had made any public statements that would confirm that U.S. envoy’s claim of ceasefire. 

Furthermore, a Syrian Bedouin commander argued on Friday that a ceasefire would not apply to his forces. The Bedouins reportedly demand that the Druze fighters release Bedouins that were detained during the attacks on the Druze population. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the Jewish state would protect the Druze minority in Syria, which shares close family ties with the Druze population in the neighboring Israeli Golan Heights. He accused the Syrian Al-Shara regime of attempting to massacre the Druze community.

“It sent an army south of Damascus, into the area that should be demilitarized, and it began to massacre the Druze. We could not accept this in any way,” Netanyahu stated. “We acted, and we will continue to act as necessary."

The Syrian regime announced on Friday that it would send troops to the Druze region with the goal of restoring law and order and put an end to the lethal violence. The Israeli government indicated at the same time that it would give the Syrian regime 48 hours to restore calm and security in the area. 

“In light of the ongoing instability in southwest Syria, Israel has agreed to allow limited entry of the (Syrian) internal security forces into Suwayda district for the next 48 hours,” an Israeli official stated on condition of anonymity.

Israeli authorities are also working on bringing home the last Druze individuals who crossed the border from the Israeli side to assist their threatened relatives in Syria. 

Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in the Suwayda region has deteriorated. 

“For four days, there has been no electricity, no fuel, no food, no drink, nothing at all,” revealed the local 28-year-old resident Mudar. Due to fears of reprisals, he refrained from providing his full name. 

“The clashes haven’t stopped,” he continued, adding that “we can’t get news easily because there’s barely internet or phone coverage.”