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New York Times
19-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Syria Declares Cease-Fire After a Week of Upheaval
The Syrian government announced a cease-fire deal on Saturday and said it would redeploy its forces to the restive southern province of Sweida in a new effort to quell a deadly wave of sectarian violence that drew in neighboring Israel. 'The Syrian state has managed to calm the situation despite difficult circumstances,' President Ahmed al-Shara said in a televised address on Saturday, describing the recent bloodshed as a 'dangerous turning point' for his nation. 'The Israeli intervention has pushed the country into a dangerous phase that poses a threat to its stability,' he added. Hours earlier, the U.S. special envoy to Syria, Thomas J. Barrack Jr., said that Israel and Syria had agreed to a truce that he described as a 'breakthrough.' Mr. Barrack called on Syrian armed groups — including Bedouin fighters and minority Druse at the center of the recent clashes — to lay down their weapons. It was not immediately clear how the new truce differed from a cease-fire in Sweida that the Syrian authorities announced Wednesday. That day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Washington had worked with all parties involved and had 'agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight.' Soon after those comments, the Syrian state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces had begun withdrawing from Sweida. That appeared to end the worst of the violence, though clashes have since continued sporadically in some areas. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Al Mayadeen
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Mayadeen
US backs Syria-Israeli talks, disarmament of Resistance: NYT
Damascus and Tel Aviv are engaged in high-level talks aimed at "restoring calm", according to Thomas J. Barrack Jr, a top Middle East envoy for US President Donald Trump, with Washington actively supporting the discussions as part of its regional stabilization efforts. In an interview with The New York Times, Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria, expressed the American administration's desire for Syria to join normalization agreements. However, he cautioned that the process could take time, as Syria's new president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, might face domestic resistance. Barrack warned that this process could take time, as Syria's new president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, might face resistance at home. Additionally, he emphasized that al-Sharaa cannot be perceived by his people as pressured or compelled into normalization, which is why he needs to move cautiously. The envoy claimed that "everyone in this region respects only strength, and Trump has proven that America's strength is a prerequisite for peace," while also pointing out that "progress in democratic transformation and inclusive governance will not happen quickly, and these are not part of the American criteria." In a related context, US officials expressed concern about the thousands of foreign fighters who entered Syria to join the war. Barrack explained that Washington has recognized "Syria cannot expel those who remain within its borders, and that they may pose a threat to the new government if marginalized," which is why the Trump administration expects transparency regarding their assigned roles. On the topic of Trump's executive order ending decades of US sanctions on Syria, Barrack explained, "that rather than imposing strict demands, the administration has set achievable goals for the Syrian government to work toward while Washington monitors their progress." He added that these benchmarks include "achieving a peaceful settlement with Israel, integrating the US-backed Kurdish-led militias controlling northeast Syria, and investigating the fate of Americans lost during the war." Barrack stated that "lifting sanctions to encourage change had proven more effective than maintaining them until Syria meets specific demands," while acknowledging that the successive sanctions regimes had never achieved their intended results. On another front, Barrack described the ceasefire in Lebanon as a "complete failure," explaining that "Israel continues to bomb Lebanon while Hezbollah violates the agreement's terms." Barrack claimed that "disarming Hezbollah requires a carrot-and-stick approach, in additional to having the Lebanese Army conduct house-to-house weapons searches." Barrack suggested that "this process could provoke backlash from Shiite communities, which have long viewed Hezbollah as Lebanon's defender and the vanguard of resistance against Israel," emphasizing the potential for widespread discontent.
