Staff member: Engagement underway to de-escalate recent clashes near Syria

A staff member said they had been engaging “with them all morning long, and all night long with both sides” to try to de-escalate clashes involving groups near Syria and that they expected progress “in the next few hours.”

The staff member described the situation as rooted in “historic long time rivalries between different groups in the South, West Of Syria, Bedouins, the Druze community,” and said the rivalries had led to “an unfortunate situation, and a misunderstanding … between the Israeli side and the Syrian side.”

The remarks were delivered during the meeting transcript provided; the speaker said efforts so far had produced what they described as a move “towards a a real de escalation” and expressed hope the situation would stabilize. The speaker also said the engagement aimed to help “Syria build a country and … arriv[ing] at a … situation there in The Middle East [that] is far more stable.”

The statements in this article are drawn directly from the meeting transcript; no formal actions or policy decisions were recorded in the transcript excerpt. The comments constitute reporting of ongoing engagement and expectations conveyed by the staff member, not a declaration of outcomes.

The staff member said they hoped to see “some some real progress to end what you've been seeing over the last couple hours” within hours of the remarks.