US pressure on Israel needed for peace in Syria

What the report says

US Ambassador to Turkiye Tom Barrack has proposed a deconfliction mechanism involving Turkiye, Syria and Israel after a suspected Israeli strike on the Abu al-Duhur airbase near Idlib, in northwest Syria. Barrack described the attack as an unnecessary escalation, while Syrian officials and analysts cited by Al Jazeera argued that Israel remains the main obstacle to reducing tensions.

The report says Israel has continued carrying out strikes in Syria for years, and that its posture changed after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Since then, according to the article, Israel has targeted Syrian military infrastructure, raised concerns about Turkish influence in Syria and taken positions in the south of the country. Turkiye rejected Israel’s account of the situation and accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of using destabilising policies ahead of Israeli elections.

Analysts quoted by Al Jazeera questioned whether any communication channel could work without Israeli cooperation. They argued that Syria’s new government wants better relations with the West and a way to ease regional tensions, but that progress has stalled because Israel does not currently see talks with Damascus as a priority. The article also notes that Syria has not accepted full normalisation with Israel, especially given Israeli control of parts of the Golan Heights and other disputed moves after Assad’s سقوط.

The piece suggests the US would need to pressure Netanyahu’s government for the mechanism to be credible. A regional context is that Washington has also tried similar arrangements elsewhere, but those efforts have faced limits when one side continues unilateral military action.