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.
Washington has prioritised an agreement with Damascus while Israel retains its own security demands and relationship.” 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. 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.
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