WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Washington hoped within hours to ease tensions in Syria, as he voiced concern over violence that has included Israeli strikes on its war-torn neighbor.
“In the next few hours, we hope to see some real progress to end what you’ve been seeing over the last couple of hours,” Rubio told reporters in the Oval Office as President Donald Trump nodded.
Rubio blamed “historic longtime rivalries” for the clashes in the majority-Druze city of Sweida, which Israel has cited for its latest military intervention.
“It led to an unfortunate situation and a misunderstanding, it looks like, between the Israeli side and the Syrian side,” Rubio said of the situation which has included Israel bombing the Syrian army’s headquarters in Damascus.
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“We’ve been engaged with them all morning long and all night long – with both sides – and we think we’re on our way towards a real deescalation and then hopefully get back on track and helping Syria build the country and arriving at a situation in the Middle East that is far more stable,” said Rubio, who is also Trump’s national security advisor.
Rubio, asked by a reporter earlier in the day at the State Department what he thought of Israel’s bombing, said, “We’re very concerned about it. We want it to stop.”
The State Department afterward issued fuller comments in which Rubio did not directly reference Israel but spoke of the communal clashes in Syria.
“We are very worried about the violence in southern Syria. It is a direct threat to efforts to help build a peaceful and stable Syria,” Rubio said in a statement.
“We have been and remain in repeated and constant talks with the governments of Syria and Israel on this matter.”
Trump has staunchly backed Israel including in its military campaigns in Gaza and Iran.
But he has been prioritizing diplomacy with Syria’s new leadership, seeing an opening after fighters toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.
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