Suwayda remains in stasis as US signals differences with Israel on Syria

United States special envoy Tom Barrack recently spoke with a popular X personality about Syria and, in particular, Suwayda, which has been a hotbed of tensions between the government and Israel.

The southern governorate, which is majority Druze, is one of the last places in the country where the Syrian government does not have full control.

Barrack referred to “a particular Druze sheikh”, thought to be Hikmat al-Hijri, a leading political and religious figure in Suwayda. The National Guard, a Druze armed group linked to al-Hijri, has been accused of receiving support from Israel with separatist ambitions.

Barrack’s comment on al-Hijri is perceived by many as a firm message to Israel, which has attacked Syrian ministries and soldiers and tried to curry favour with Syria’s Druze community with the National Guard accused of acting as an Israeli proxy.

US President Donald Trump has built a strong relationship with his counterpart in Damascus, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and perceives any instability in Syria as dangerous for a country trying to rebuild after 13 years of war.

“[Barrack’s] message was totally clear,” Navvar Saban, a researcher in security and military affairs at the Arab Center for Contemporary Syrian Studies, told Al Jazeera. “Israel backing [al-Hijri] does not equal American backing. Washington has prioritised an agreement with Damascus while Israel retains its own security demands and relationship.”

Divergent views on Syria

Since the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, the US has slowly rebuilt relations with Damascus and its new leader.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has received strong US support for his assaults in Lebanon, Palestine and Iran, has a view of the new Syrian government that is very different from Trump’s.

In the days immediately after the collapse of al-Assad’s government, Israel invaded Syria and seized land in Quneitra governorate and other strategically important areas of the country.

Israel has threatened President al-Sharaa’s government in Damascus, bombed the Ministry of Defence, and harassed and arrested Syrians in southern Syria. Israel has drawn an outcry from Syrian officials due to its repeated incursions into Syria.

Barrack, a Trump confidant who is the US ambassador to Turkiye and a special envoy to Syria and Iraq, has built a reputation for his direct approach to diplomacy, at times without regard to caution, as evidenced when he called some members of the media in Lebanon “animalistic” last year.

On Friday, Barrack spoke to Australian X personality Mario Nawfal and addressed the situation in southern Syria. He appeared to take the view that Washington favoured Damascus having control over Suwayda rather than a group aligned with al-Hijri and linked to Israel.

“[Barrack’s] remarks expose differences with Israel,” Nanar Hawach, a Syrian analyst who visited Suwayda in September, told Al Jazeera. “Washington is building a partner in Damascus while Israel appears to prefer a Damascus that is too weak to assert itself in the south.”

Israel and al-Hijri

Having grown tired of their worsening living conditions, residents in Suwayda, including many in its Druze majority, rose up against the al-Assad regime in 2023. They maintained their protests until the regime collapsed in December 2024.

Many in Suwayda celebrated this moment, which ended more than five decades of Baathist rule, although they were also hesitant to throw their support behind the new government.

That hesitancy turned to blatant opposition to al-Sharaa after fighting between Bedouin tribes and Druze in Suwayda turned into deadly sectarian killings in July 2025. Forces reportedly connected to the government joined the fighting on the side of the Bedouins. While there was violence and death on both sides, the casualties were overwhelmingly Druze.

Israel intervened in the fighting at one point, attacking what it said were Syrian government forces entering Suwayda. Since then, Israel has reportedly been trying to curry favour with locals there, including al-Hijri, who has been fervent in his opposition to Damascus’s new leadership.

“Israel appears intent on a lasting military presence in southern Syria, and it uses Suwayda as a lever against Damascus, offering enough support to keep the province reliant on Israeli protection and too little to secure its future,” Hawach said. “Along its line in Quneitra and Daraa [areas of southern Syria that Israel has invaded], Israel treats neighbouring communities differently, reviving wartime grievances between Syrians that any future Syria-Israel arrangement would struggle to undo.”

In Suwayda, analysts said, al-Hijri’s support is not universal but he benefits whenever the Druze community feels under attack.

“Sheikh al-Hijri’s authority rises with the community’s sense of threat and opens to debate as that threat recedes, so pressure from Damascus tends to strengthen the leadership it aims to weaken,” Hawach said. “Each side points to the other’s hard line to justify its own. That keeps Suwayda’s future framed in security terms and crowds out the many residents, clerics and local figures seeking a path between central rule and separation.”

Accountability needed for reconciliation

After the events of July 2025, the US began talks with the Syrian government hosted by Jordan to resolve the crisis. A trilateral agreement was signed in Amman in September 2025 that said Syria would invite an independent international commission to investigate what happened in Suwayda and perpetrators would be brought to justice.

While major fighting has not resumed between Damascus and Druze factions, the situation in Suwayda remains in a deadlock with many in the province having no trust in the government.

“Distrust has hardened, partly because Damascus has sought to bring Suwayda back by pressuring its leadership, and residents feel that pressure first, in their salaries, their children’s exams and the road to the capital,” Hawach said. “Trust tends to return through what the state delivers. Damascus stands a better chance of winning people back by serving residents directly and pursuing accountability for July 2025.”

Analysts said accountability is crucial if Damascus wants to bring Suwayda back into the Syrian fold.

“A durable settlement needs credible accountability for what happened in 2025,” Saban said. “The Druze need to be guaranteed protection of movement, education and security. Neither weakening Hijri, nor restoring government institutions alone will rebuild the trust.”