US envoy Thomas Barrack meets Netanyahu as talks continue on Syria and Lebanon

The top US envoy Thomas Barrack arrived in Israel on Sunday (August 24) for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the conflicts in Syria and Lebanon, according to Israeli officials.

Axios first reported the meeting, citing Israeli and American sources. Barrack also held discussions with Israel’s minister for strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, and the defence minister, Israel Katz.

Thomas Barrack, who serves concurrently as the US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria, has emerged as a key figure in the Trump administration’s diplomacy in West Asia.

Appointed earlier this year, Barrack has been tasked with facilitating peace negotiations and easing tensions across multiple fronts, including Syria and Lebanon, amid stalled ceasefire talks and tangled regional rivalries.

The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, was said to have joined the sessions. The delegation is expected to travel to Beirut on Monday, where senior Republican senator Lindsey Graham will accompany them.

US-mediated talks on Syria

The visit comes against the backdrop of American-mediated negotiations between Israel and Syria aimed at reducing tensions in the south of the country.

Dermer reportedly met Syria’s foreign minister, Asaad al-Shibani, in Paris last week to discuss security arrangements. A first round of talks held in Paris in late July ended without agreement.

Roadmap for Hezbollah disarmament

On Monday in Lebanon, Barrack said Israel should comply with a new plan under which Hezbollah would disarm by the end of the year in exchange for Israel halting its military operations. The roadmap envisages a phased handover of weapons by armed groups, while Israeli forces would cease ground, air and sea actions and withdraw from southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s cabinet approved the plan’s objectives earlier this month despite Hezbollah’s refusal to disarm. Barrack argued it was now “Israel’s turn to cooperate.” Netanyahu’s office has so far declined to comment.

With inputs from Reuters