U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye Tom Barrack announced last night on X that Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and Syrian leader Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (aka Abu Mohammad al-Jolani), backed by the U.S., have agreed to a ceasefire “embraced by Türkiye, Jordan and its 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 in peace and prosperity with its neighbors.”
Reuters reported that Israel had repeatedly said it would not allow Syrian troops to deploy to the country’s south, but on July 18, it said it would grant them a brief window to end renewed clashes there. “In light of the ongoing instability in southwest Syria, Israel has agreed to allow limited entry of the (Syrian) internal security forces into Sweida district for the next 48 hours,” the official, who declined to be named, told reporters.
“Eventually we will see the carving up of Syria—Israel in the south, occupation by proxy, linking with the Kurds in the north-east to achieve the Davids Corridor,” Vanessa Beeley wrote on her Telegram channel yesterday. “Jolani [al-Sharaa], if he stays in power, will still be the regional enforcer for the U.S. and Israel with the Takfiri militia under his control. This is part of the security agreement between Syria and Israel since Baku,” referring to their meetings week between Israeli and Syrian officials. “If Jolani is to be replaced, it is very possible the role will go to Asaad Al Shaibani who is the more shrewd of the two and heavily supported by [British intelligence] MI6. The area of control for HTS will be from Damascus to Homs and Hama to enable them to put pressure on Lebanon and to give them a corridor from Homs to Iraq (Homs governorate) if Iraqi resistance is to be a target also. It will also be a corridor for ISIS.
