US Claims Credit for Brokered Syria-“Israel” Ceasefire Amid Druze Conflict

By Staff, Agencies

The United States has claimed credit for brokering a ceasefire between the “Israeli” entity and Syria, following a sharp escalation in violence marked by “Israeli” airstrikes and deadly intercommunal clashes in southern Syria.

According to a statement released Friday by US envoy Tom Barrack, who also serves as ambassador to Turkey, both “Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syria’s interim leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa accepted a ceasefire proposal put forth by Washington.

The deal comes in the wake of “Israeli” attacks on multiple Syrian targets, including the Defense Ministry in Damascus, which Tel Aviv claimed were intended to protect the Druze minority.

Barrack credited President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the diplomatic “breakthrough,” posting on X: “We call upon Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis to put down their weapons and, together with other minorities, build a new and united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbors.”

He noted that Turkey and Jordan had also “embraced” the ceasefire plan.

The announcement followed a week of intense violence in Syria’s Suweyda province, where fierce clashes broke out between Druze militias, Bedouin tribes and government forces. Meanwhile, “Israeli” jets conducted a series of strikes on Damascus and other Syrian locations, intensifying tensions.

Netanyahu defended the military action in a speech Thursday, asserting that Syria had violated two red lines: allowing military build-up near the southern front and failing to protect the Druze. “Both those rules were broken by the regime in Damascus… I therefore directed the ‘IDF’ to take powerful action,” he said. “As a result of that powerful action, a ceasefire came into force, and the Syrian forces retreated back to Damascus.”

Ahmad Al-Sharaa, a former commander of the militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham [HTS] that seized control of Damascus last year, addressed the public in a televised statement. He announced a new agreement with Druze factions to de-escalate the violence, while accusing “Israel” of trying to fracture the country and turn Syria into “a battlefield of chaos.”

Despite previous US designations of HTS and Al-Sharaa as terrorist threats, the Trump administration has increasingly thrown its support behind the new Syrian leadership. Washington has also moved to ease sanctions and reframe Al-Sharaa’s role, with Barrack controversially comparing him to George Washington, portraying his rise from militia leader to head of state as a revolutionary transformation.

The fragile ceasefire marks a new chapter in Syria’s complex post-Assad landscape, as the US seeks to navigate shifting alliances while continuing to back “Israeli” regional objectives and reposition its policy toward militant-turned-political actors in Damascus.