Trump 'caught off guard' by Israeli strikes on Syria, White House says
US President Donald Trump was "caught off guard" by Israel’s bombing of Syria, the White House said on Monday, signalling a potentially new sour point in his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"He was caught off guard by the bombing in Syria and also the bombing of the Catholic church in Gaza," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
Her remarks come after Middle East Eye first reported the US was "upset" by Israel's targeting of Syrian forces entering the country's south and the strikes on Syria's ministry of defence and the outskirts of the presidential palace.
MEE also reported that Saudi Arabia was "angry" about Israel attacking Syrian soldiers and dictating military deployments to Damascus.
Sweida has been the site of sectarian violence between the majority Druze community and Sunni Bedouins. Israel has framed its military intervention as being in support of the Syrian Druze. Around 1,000 people have been killed in clashes between government forces, Bedouin and Druze fighters, including hundreds of civilians.
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Current and former Arab, Israeli and US officials say Israel is trying to carve out a zone of influence in Syria that conflicts directly with the vision of a unitary post-war Syria put forward by Tom Barrack, Trump's special envoy and ambassador to Turkey.
"I think Potus and others in the administration have been crystal clear about the path for Syria," a US official in the region who was monitoring the Israeli strikes told MEE last week, referring to President Trump.
MEE reported on Friday that Saudi Arabia told the Trump administration that Syrian security forces should be able to deploy to Sweida. A fragile ceasefire struck late last week was holding on Monday amid reports of atrocities committed by both sides.
Israel’s strikes came as the US was trying to broker a normalisation of ties between Syria and Israel.
The Trump administration has heralded Syria as a model for its version of Middle East statecraft underwritten by Turkish military might and Gulf cash.
Trump announced in May that he was lifting all US sanctions on Syria despite objections from Israel and some of his own advisors.
Trump said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were responsible for convincing him to make the decision.
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