Barrack retracts his Golan remarks as Damascus seeks an end to strikes before talks
Tom Barrack withdrew his Golan remarks and restated the US policy set in 2019. Damascus remained open to security talks but said trust could not grow while attacks continued.
Geopolitics··Morning
Barrack withdraws his Golan statement two days later
US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack stepped back two days after saying Israel occupied the Golan in defiance of United Nations resolutions. Barrack said his earlier remarks had described the territory's history and that US policy was set by President Donald Trump in 2019. The Trump administration recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2019, a step no other government has taken. Israel seized the plateau in 1967 and annexed it in 1981.[1]
Damascus wants the strikes stopped before returning to the table
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said he expected security talks, frozen at the start of the US-Israel war on Iran, to resume soon, although no date had been set. He said the parties had agreed on paper to almost all of a deal covering areas near the border and a buffer zone where only the United Nations would be present. Al-Shaibani said Damascus wanted attacks to stop first and confidence-building steps to follow, and that it did not currently trust Israel.[2]
The Abu Duhur strike draws a joint response from 11 governments
Foreign ministers from 11 countries, including Turkey, together with the Palestinian side, called Israel's attack on Syria's Abu Duhur airbase an extreme escalation. The base sustained damage in the Tuesday morning strike, with no casualties reported. Netanyahu's office claimed Syria was about to change the security arrangement by allowing Turkish troops to deploy at the base. Syria and Turkey denied that account, and no independent confirmation was reported. The joint statement also addressed Syria's reconstruction and its effort to restore security.[2], [3]
