HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS
The deal between the federal government and Israel was introduced by Washington early on Saturday Damascus time.
US pointman on Syria, Tom Barrack, stated interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “have agreed to a ceasefire” negotiated by the US.
Barrack, who’s the US ambassador to Ankara, stated the deal had the backing of Turkey, a key supporter of Sharaa, in addition to neighbouring Jordan.
“We name upon Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis to place down their weapons and along with different minorities construct a brand new and united Syrian id in peace and prosperity with its neighbours,” he wrote on X.
Barrack later held a gathering in Amman with the Syrian and Jordanian prime diplomats, throughout which they “agreed on sensible steps to help Syria in implementing the settlement”, the US envoy stated in a later put up on X.
The US administration, which alongside Turkey and Saudi Arabia, has solid ties with the president regardless of his previous hyperlinks with Al-Qaeda, was essential of its Israeli ally’s latest air strikes on Syria and had sought a approach out for Sharaa’s authorities.
Sharaa adopted up on the US announcement with a televised speech during which he introduced a right away ceasefire in Sweida and renewed his pledge to guard Syria’s ethnic and spiritual minorities.
“The Syrian state is dedicated to defending all minorities and communities within the nation … We condemn all crimes dedicated” in Sweida, he stated.
The president paid tribute to the “necessary function performed by the US, which once more confirmed its help for Syria in these tough circumstances and its concern for the nation’s stability”.
The European Union welcomed the deal between Syria and Israel, saying it had been “appalled” by the lethal sectarian violence of latest days. France urged all events to “strictly adhere” to the ceasefire.
However Israel expressed deep scepticism about Sharaa’s renewed pledge to guard minorities, pointing to lethal violence towards Alawites in addition to Druze since he led the overthrow of longtime chief Bashar al-Assad in December.
In Sharaa’s Syria “it is vitally harmful to be a member of a minority – Kurd, Druze, Alawite or Christian”, International Minister Gideon Saar posted on X.
