US Claims Of Dealing To End Violence Achieved, Israeli Attack On Syria To Protect Druze

JAKARTA - United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, all parties had agreed concrete steps to end the latest wave of violence in Syria, following a deadly Israeli airstrike claimed to protect the Druze minority and communal unrest.

"We have agreed on specific steps that will end the troubling and dire situation tonight," he wrote in an X post.

"This requires all parties to fulfill the commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect from them," he added.

Foreign Minister Rubio did not provide further details about the agreed steps or which parties were involved in the negotiations.

Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce said at a press conference the US urged the Syrian government to withdraw its troops, which were deployed to restore order.

"We urge the Syrian government to, in fact, withdraw their military so that all parties can ease tensions and find a way forward," Bruce said.

"That is clearly the goal, given the nature of what has happened. The Minister of Foreign Affairs declared this a misunderstanding," he continued.

"We understand that Israeli forces are intervening to protect Druze - that is something we can confirm," he added.

When asked by Anadolu Agency whether the US considers the presidential palace and Syrian military headquarters, owned by the government of its leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, to have met and been praised by President Donald Trump, as the legitimate target of Israeli airstrikes, Bruce declined to comment directly.

"I will not comment on how Israel makes decisions about what it feels necessary to do," he said.

"We understand, once again, that they are intervening to protect Druze but we are clearly involved in a framework to stop and defuse this situation. We will definitely get more answers over time," he said.

Quoted from Reuters, Israel calls Syria's new rulers an undercover jihadist, pledging to protect the Druze group.

President Ahmed al-Sharaa himself repeatedly promised to protect the minority. Druze residents are scattered between Syria, Lebanon and Israel.