DAMASCUS: The United States’ new envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, on Thursday called for a non-aggression agreement between Syria and Israel, describing their conflict as a “solvable problem”.

In remarks to Saudi channel Al Arabiya, Barrack said the two sides could “start with just a non-aggression agreement, talk about boundaries and borders” to rebuild ties.

Syria and Israel have technically been at war since 1948. Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and has carried out hundreds of strikes and several incursions since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December. Israel says its strikes aim to stop advanced weapons reaching Syria’s new authorities, whom it considers jihadists. It has also warned of further action if they fail to protect the Druze minority.

Barrack made the comments after inaugurating the US ambassador’s residence in Damascus, the first such move in more than a decade. Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said earlier this month his administration was holding indirect talks with Israel to calm tensions.

Restoring US ties

Sharaa, once a jihadist leader wanted in the United States, led the rebel offensive that toppled Assad. Since coming to power, he has pledged inclusive governance and openness to the world. His administration has re-established diplomatic ties with several powers.

During a Gulf tour this month, US President Donald Trump announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria and voiced hope it would normalise relations with Israel. “I told him, I hope you’re going to join once you’re straightened out and he said yes. But they have a lot of work to do,” he said of Sharaa, calling him a “young, attractive guy” and a “fighter”.

On May 8 in France, Sharaa said Syria was holding “indirect talks through mediators” with Israel to “try to contain the situation so it does not reach the point where it escapes the control of both sides.” The United States has in recent months started rebuilding ties with Syria, ending more than a decade of diplomatic freeze.

Syria signed a $7 billion energy deal on Thursday with a consortium of Qatari, US and Turkish companies as it seeks to rehabilitate its war-ravaged electricity sector.

US flag raised

The agreement, signed in the presence of interim Sharaa and Barrack, is expected to generate 5,000 megawatts of electricity and cover half of the country’s needs. “Only a week after President Trump’s announcement to lift sanctions, we have already unlocked billions of dollars of international investment for Syria,” Barrack posted on X.

Syria said the deal signalled the new authorities’ openness to regional and global partnerships after 14 years of war. Photographers saw the US flag raised at the newly reopened ambassador’s residence, just a few hundred metres (yards) from the US embassy in the Abu Rummaneh neighbourhood, under tight security.

“Tom understands there is great potential in working with Syria to stop Radicalism, improve Relations, and secure Peace in the Middle East,” Trump said, according to the State Department on X.

The US embassy in Syria was closed after Assad’s repression of a peaceful uprising that began in 2011, which degenerated into civil war. Barrack met Sharaa in Istanbul on 24 May, after Trump held talks with the Syrian interim leader in Riyadh and lifted sanctions on Syria.

The last US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, was declared persona non grata in 2011 after defying the Assad government by visiting a city that was under army siege and the site of a major anti-regime protests.

In December, a US delegation led by Barbara Leaf, the State Department’s Middle East representative, held an initial meeting with the new leadership in Damascus.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2025