U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday, a day after terrorists in Syria fired two rockets at the Golan Heights.
“Israeli Prime Minister @Netanyahu and I met in Jerusalem today to discuss Syria and the broader region,” Barrack, who also serves as ambassador to Turkey, posted to X.
"@POTUS envisions a Syria that cannot be used as a Platform by any 3rd party nation state, or non nation state, to threaten Syria’s neighbors, including Israel,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister @Netanyahu and I met in Jerusalem today to discuss Syria and the broader region. @POTUS envisions a Syria that cannot be used as a Platform by any 3rd party nation state, or non nation state, to threaten Syria’s neighbors, including Israel.
— Ambassador Tom Barrack (@USAMBTurkiye) June 4, 2025
The attack triggered air raid sirens in Haspin and Moshav Ramat Magshimim in the southern Golan Heights, with both projectiles hitting open areas. No injuries or damage were reported.
It was the first rocket attack from Syria since May 2024.
A previously unknown group calling itself the “Martyr Mohammad Deif Brigades” claimed responsibility for the rocket attack from southern Syria, having announced its formation days earlier, according to the Alma Research and Education Center.
Shortly afterward, IDF artillery and fighter jets responded by striking a weapons depot belonging to the Syrian regime in southern Syria. The IDF said that the regime bears full responsibility for any hostile activity emanating from its territory and that it “will continue to bear the consequences as long as such activity continues.”
Barrack confirmed on Tuesday that the United States has begun reducing its military presence in Syria.
Speaking to Turkish media, Barrack said, “We’ve gone from eight bases to five, and now to three. Eventually, we will have only one.”
The remarks came amid ongoing reports of a phased withdrawal by U.S. forces from northeastern Syria.
On May 29, Barrack called for a non-aggression agreement between Syria and Israel, speaking during a high-profile visit to Damascus.
The envoy proposed the pact as a first step toward normalizing relations between Jerusalem and Damascus, following his meeting with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the presidential palace, AFP reported.
The initiative comes as the United States and Syria restore official diplomatic engagement after more than a decade of severed ties.
Barrack raised the American flag over the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Damascus for the first time since the embassy closed in 2012. The symbolic act marks a significant thaw in relations since the Syrian civil war began in 2011.
The Trump administration’s approach has rapidly evolved following the ousting of President Bashar Assad in December 2024. Assad was replaced by Sharaa, whose rise to power was backed by his Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham now forms a key part of Syria’s reconstructed governance.
President Donald Trump met with Sharaa in Riyadh on May 13 and has begun easing U.S. sanctions on Syria. In an additional conciliatory step, Barrack told Reuters the administration plans to remove Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, citing a desire to offer the new leadership a chance to govern without U.S. interference.
The renewed diplomacy marks a dramatic pivot from more than a decade of Western isolation and pressure on the Syrian regime, which included severe economic sanctions and diplomatic disengagement.
Israel has not publicly responded to Barrack’s proposal. While Israel and Syria remain technically at war, there have been intermittent discussions about reducing tensions, particularly along the Golan Heights. Al-Sharaa has confirmed indirect talks with Israel to calm tensions.
