CNN
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Syria and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire, the US ambassador for Turkish Tom Barracks said on Friday.
The deal was “embraced” by Türkiye, Jordan and other neighboring countries, the ambassador serving as US envoy for Syria said in a post in X.
“We will call on druzes, Bedouins and Sunnis to put arms and together with other minorities we will build a new Syrian identity of peace and prosperity with our neighbors,” Barrack said.
Neither party immediately commented on the reported transaction.
The ceasefire said Israel aims to protect the Arab religious minority Druze after Israel launched airstrikes in Syria on Wednesday. The clash between the pro-government forces and the Druze has killed many since the collapse of Syrian longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Israel’s airstrikes on Damascus have targeted several government buildings, with authorities saying at least three people being killed. One video from a Syrian television channel showed that the Ministry of Defense building was broadcast and forced the anchor to cover.
Syrian President Ahmed Arshala said Syrian troops began withdrawing from Sweida on local time Wednesday night. There, clashes between the Druze militia and the Bedouin people erupted over the weekend, prompting government forces to intervene. The Alshara government has also announced a new ceasefire with the Druze faction.
In that same televised speech, Alshara accused Israel of splitting Syrian people and trying to turn Syria into a battlefield of chaos.
The US has recently made diplomatic pushes to resolve the conflict, expressing concern over rising tensions.
According to a readout of a call from the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Friday to discuss the issue.
Rubio previously said on Wednesday night that all parties in the conflict had agreed to “specific measures” to resolve the situation.
“This requires realising the commitments that all involved have made, and this is something we fully expect that they will do,” Rubio said in X.
Amos Yadrin, former general and chief of the Israeli Military Intelligence News, said on CNN’s “Overview with Jim Sait” on Friday that all players’ involvement, including Turkey, Israel and Jordan, was “meaningful.”
“The question is whether retaliation for the two communities will stop and how people on earth will behave,” Yadrin said.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
Katrina Samaan of CNN contributed to this report.
