US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday called on the Syrian government to prevent jihadists from carrying out massacres in the south of the country.
“The US has remained heavily involved over the last three days with Israel, Jordan and authorities in Damascus on the horrifying and dangerous developments in southern Syria. The rape and slaughter of innocent people which has and is still occuring must end,” Rubio said in a statement posted to X.
“If authorities in Damascus want to preserve any chance of achieving a unified, inclusive and peaceful Syria free of ISIS and of Iranian control they must help end this calamity by using their security forces to prevent ISIS and any other violent jihadists from entering the area and carrying out massacres. And they must hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks,” he added.
“Furthermore the fighting between Druze and Bedouin groups inside the perimeter must also stop immediately,” stated Rubio.
Rubio’s statement comes a day after US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack announced that Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire.
“We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity building peace and prosperity with their neighbors,” Barrack wrote in a post on X in which he announced the ceasefire.
Barrack’s announcement followed the clashes in recent days between Bedouin and Druze in the Sweida region of Syria, which prompted the Syrian army to intervene.
On Thursday, the Syrian army withdrew from Sweida after the IDF carried out strikes on the Syrian regime’s central headquarters as well as the presidential palace in Damascus.
The clashes in Sweida broke out again on Friday, before Barrack’s announcement, leading Syria’s government to announce that it will redeploy forces to the area.
Al-Sharaa delivered a televised speech early Thursday morning in which he accused Israel of attempting to undermine Syria’s internal stability.
“The Israeli entity has always accustomed us to attempts to harm our stability and create fratricidal wars – since the fall of the Assad regime,” he claimed.
Al-Sharaa further claimed that Israel aims to turn Syria into a zone of anarchy, drag it into internal conflicts, and divide the country.
He stated that Syria faced a choice of direct confrontation with Israel but chose, in his words, the interest of the Syrian people, entrusting the responsibility for maintaining security in the Sweida region to local factions and the Druze leadership.