Israel and Syria agree to ceasefire with support of the United States
U.S. Ambassador Tom Barrack said the truce has the support of regional players, including Turkey and Jordan.
The leaders of Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire days after major Israeli strikes, a U.S. envoy said Friday, while urging all parties involved in the war in Syria to lay down their weapons.
Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and in charge of the situation in Syria, said that the truce has the support of regional actors, including Turkey and Jordan. Barrack visited Beirut to promote a proposal aimed at addressing the points still unresolved since the ceasefire, with a focus on the disarmament of Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the new Syrian leader, Ahmed al Sharaa, “have agreed to a ceasefire” also supported by their neighbors Turkey and Jordan, the US ambassador to Turkey and point man in Syria wrote in X. “We call on the Druze, Bedouin and Sunnis to lay down their arms and, together with other minorities, build a new, united Syrian identity in peace and prosperity with its neighbors," he added.
Israel carried out major airstrikes inside the Syrian capital Damascus on Wednesday, including on the army headquarters.
Israel said it was defending the Druze community after deadly clashes between the minority, which has a presence in Israel, and Bedouin in Syria's southern Sweida area.
Some diplomats and analysts see Israel as maximizing the damage it can to weaken its historic adversary Syria, after Islamist Sharaa forces ousted long-time Iranian ally Bashar al-Assad in December. years.
The United States announced an agreement on Wednesday under which Syrian government forces would withdraw from Sweida.

