US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack announces that Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire.
On Wednesday, Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus, while also hitting government forces in the south, demanding they withdraw and saying that Israel aimed to protect Syrian Druze — part of a small but influential minority that also has followers in Lebanon and Israel.
Barrack, who also serves as special envoy for Syria, writes in a post on X that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, with the support of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, agreed to a ceasefire “embraced” by Turkey, Jordan and other unidentified neighbors.
“We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity,” Barrack says without offering any further details about the ceasefire.
There is no immediate comment from the Prime Minister’s Office or the Syrian Presidency.
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Saturday, July 19, 2025
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