Israel should maintain a diplomatic approach toward Syria and refrain from actions that could hamper the country’s development, US President Donald Trump said in a Monday Truth Social post.
“It is very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria, and that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous state,” Trump wrote.
He also assured that the current Syrian state offers a “historic opportunity to the success of peace in the Middle East,” in what seems to be a hint against Israeli attacks on Syrian soil.
Shortly after the statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump discussed expanding regional peace agreements.
During their talk, Trump invited Netanyahu to a meeting at the White House in the near future, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Syrian and Israeli officials have met half a dozen times for US-brokered talks on a security deal to bring stability to the border region, but negotiations have been frozen since September.
The statement came during a meeting between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and US Special Envoy Tom Barrack in Damascus.
Sharaa and Barrack discussed “the latest developments in the region and issues of common interest,” with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also attending, according to the statement.
Trump’s remarks come in the wake of an IDF operation that took place early Friday morning on Syrian soil.
The incident occurred in the Druze village of Beit Jann, approximately 11 km. from the border. It began when Israeli forces entered the village to arrest two suspects – brothers – who were involved in terrorist activities against Israel.
The operation quickly escalated. During the raid, the forces encountered around 20 additional armed terrorists. In intense exchanges of fire, seven Israeli soldiers were wounded, three of them seriously. According to Syrian media, at least 10 Syrians were killed in the incident.
Syria’s Ambassador to the United Nations Ibrahim al-Olabi said on Monday that his country was exerting diplomatic and international pressure on Israel to isolate it, with the aim of forcing the Jewish state into a security agreement.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, al-Olabi added: “Syria’s restraint toward Israel has led 15 members of the Security Council to criticize Israel and not Syria. This is what brings investments to Syria, this is what helps us restore electricity, and this is what helps us build trust with the international community.”
Olabi emphasized that the new Syrian government was responding to Israeli violations using the language of international law and diplomacy.
“This approach yields immediate political and economic gains for Syria and frustrates Israel, which wants Syria to react militarily.” He stressed that if Syria were to respond militarily to Israeli attacks, it would lead to open war with casualties, adding: “We have no interest in exposing Syria to such dangers.”
Najat Rochdi, the UN’s deputy special envoy for Syria, condemned Israel’s latest incursion as “a grave and unacceptable violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, further destabilizing an already fragile environment.”
Syria’s Foreign Ministry accused Israel of committing a “full-fledged war crime” during the raid and warned that the strikes threatened security and stability in the region.
Trump hosted Sharaa at the White House in early November, in the first-ever visit by a Syrian president to Washington, during which he vowed to do everything he could to make Syria successful.
Trump praised Sharaa as a “strong leader” and voiced confidence in him.
Reports of Hezbollah, Hamas, PIJ building structures in Syria
There have been several reports that Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are building structures in Syria. However, Walid Akasha, a local official in Beit Jinn, denied that there were any terrorist factions in the area.
Walid Akasha, a local official in Beit Jinn, denied that there were any terrorist factions in the area.
"We're a peaceful, civilian population, farmers. We have a legitimate right to defend ourselves. We didn't attack them first - they came onto our land," he told Reuters by phone.
Akasha said seven people had been taken from the village in an earlier raid in June, since when they had received no news about them. In an incursion on June 12, the Israeli military arrested suspected Hamas terrorists and transferred them to Israel for further questioning.
Syria's interior ministry said at the time that the seven men were civilians.
Israel has voiced deep suspicion of Syria's new government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander, and has said it wants a demilitarized southern Syria. It has moved troops and military equipment past a 1974 buffer zone and into southern Syria, including the strategic viewpoint of Mount Hermon.
Sharaa has said Syria does not pose a threat to any state.
Israeli military action in Syria has included several interventions with the declared aim of protecting members of Syria's Druze minority in Sweida province in July, who have been the subject of attacks by Sunni Muslim Bedouin fighters and government forces.
Israel's Druze spiritual leader, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, told The Jerusalem Post in mid-November that only Trump can ensure the safety and dignity of minorities in Syria, and called for the US to protect them.