Talks were held Tuesday in Amman, Jordan related to the ongoing situation in Syria’s Suwayda Governorate. No Druze were permitted to attend to the talks, which were between the Jordanian FM, the Syrian FM, and US envoy Tom Barrack.
The sides discussed the tentative ceasefire in Suwayda, which was put in place after the massacre of a large number of Druze living there, many of them by security forces. Though they suggested those responsible should be held accountable, the statement mostly lauded Syria for its efforts to convince displaced locals to return to their homes.
They issued a joint statement in the end affirming full support for the Syrian government retaining control over Suwayda, and general support for Syrian territorial integrity. The three also agreed to another meeting in the future, though a date was not disclosed.
Foreign Ministers of Syria, Jordan, and US Envoy Tom Barrack | Image from US Embassy
In mid-July, violence erupted in Suwayda, starting with tit-for-tat attacks between local Druze and Bedouins. Both sides called reinforcements and the situation escalated, but large scale killings worsened substantially when the Syrian military was deployed to impose ceasefires, several of which never actually materialized.
Though there was some international disquiet over the killings at the time, and difficulties getting aid into the area since the military shut down most of the roads, the US has largely been supportive of the Islamist Syrian government and loudly backing the need for them to impose a full monopoly on control of arms nationwide.
Though it doesn’t appear this was a topic of discussion today, there are also reports that the US is attempting to broker a deal between Syria and Israel which would create a humanitarian route between Israel and Suwayda city. This is potentially complicated because the route would go through substantial amounts of Syrian territory that Israel is in the process of invading and occupying militarily, which may make Syria loathe to agree to any routes that might further solidify Israeli control over the territory.
Israel has also been keen to use the pretext of supporting the Druze to carry out attacks on Syria, and a formal deal giving them a route to Suwayda may more serve as a ready-made excuse for more strikes and more incursions than it will actually provide relief to the Druze, who are effectively cut out of all these talks at any rate.
