Barrack’s diplomacy fuels Levant crisis, Hamas faces existential choice

Today’s international press focused on Barrack’s misguided diplomacy in Syria and Lebanon, as well as the difficult position Hamas is going through.

Barrack’s fast diplomacy in Syria and Lebanon exacerbated instability

A report in the Jerusalem Post revealed that the diplomatic moves pursued by US envoy Tom Barrack in Syria and Lebanon have backfired, fueling instability, alienating allies, and deepening the crisis of trust in the region.

According to the paper, Barrack approaches Middle Eastern files with a business-deal mentality, seeking quick announcements and tangible results. While this approach may work in real estate, in a highly complex environment like Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey, it carries the risk of intensifying instability.

The report added that what is particularly worrying is Barrack’s repeated rejection of any federal or decentralized solutions in Syria, insisting that only centralized sovereignty can bring stability. This stance, the paper said, was interpreted in Damascus as a US green light to storm the city of Sweida.

The newspaper also noted that Barrack excessively praised the Ottoman Empire, despite the fact that his Christian grandfather had fled Ottoman persecution.

It considered this rhetoric as reopening colonial wounds for Syrians and Lebanese, and as reflecting an indifference to their historical suffering.

According to the paper, this “fast-track diplomacy” adopted by Barrack has become an additional explosive factor in a region already riddled with crises, rather than a means to calm them.

Hamas at a decisive moment: Accept Trump’s plan or face annihilation

After two devastating years of war in Gaza, Hamas now finds itself facing an existential choice: either accept the ceasefire plan put forward by the US President Donald Trump, which includes disarming the movement and relinquishing any future role in governing the Strip, or reject it and continue the war that has exhausted the group and drowned Gaza in destruction, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Analysts estimate that Hamas has lost the bulk of its military strength and field commanders, with only Izz al-Din al-Haddad remaining from its previous leadership. However, the movement is still capable of guerrilla warfare and continues to recruit young fighters driven by anger at Israeli aggression, though they are less trained.

Diplomats, meanwhile, expect that rejecting the plan would lead to further isolation and possibly the loss of Arab support. One Arab mediator summed up the situation by saying: “The pressure on Hamas to agree is immense, no matter how harsh the terms.”

Although the plan calls for Hamas’ complete removal from governance in Gaza, observers doubt the movement could truly disappear, as it still enjoys the widest popular support in the Strip and maintains social and political networks in the West Bank and neighboring countries.

A-H 

ANHA