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Syria’s Sharaa Aims to Restore US Ties, No Contacts Yet With Trump Administration
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, waits to welcome the senior Ukrainian delegation led by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said his government aims to restore ties with the United States in the coming days but has not yet had any contact with the Trump administration, according to an interview with The Economist.
Sharaa, declared Syria’s interim head of state last week, also noted that US troops were in Syria without government approval, adding that any such presence should be agreed with the state. He described US sanctions still imposed on Syria as “the gravest risk” to the country.
“I believe that President Trump seeks peace in the area, and it is a top priority to lift the sanctions. The United States of America does not have any interest in maintaining the suffering of the Syrian people,” Sharaa said in the interview published late on Monday.
Sharaa led the Islamist armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al Qaeda affiliate, in the lightning offensive that toppled former President Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8.
Syria has been under tough sanctions for years, imposed by the United States and other Western powers to isolate Assad over his brutal crackdown and to generate pressure for a political solution after more than a decade of civil war.
In January, the outgoing Biden administration issued a sanctions exemption for transactions with Syrian governing institutions for six months. It followed a visit to Damascus by senior US diplomats in December.
The United States, however, continues to designate HTS as a terrorist entity, even though it severed ties with al Qaeda in 2016.
The US embassy in Damascus suspended its operations in 2012.
TERRORIST DESIGNATION ‘MEANINGLESS’
Sharaa said HTS’s terrorist designation had “become meaningless” following a decision to dissolve all the armed factions that fought Assad.
The United States deployed forces to Syria a decade ago during the campaign against Islamic State. They still have a presence in the north and northeast backing a Syrian ally, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
“In light of the new Syrian state, I believe any illegal military presence should not continue. Any military presence in a sovereign state should take place under a certain agreement, and there has been no such agreement between us and the United States of America,” Sharaa said.
He also said his administration was “reassessing the Russian military presence” in Syria, where Moscow propped up Assad.
Russia, seeking to retain both a naval and air base in Syria, sent a senior official to Damascus last week.
“We might reach an agreement [with them] or not, but in a way or another, any military presence should be with the agreement of the host state,” Sharaa said.
Asked whether he could imagine normalizing ties with Israel, Sharaa said “we want peace with all parties” but it was a sensitive issue because of regional wars and Israel’s control of the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in a 1967 war.
“There are many priorities in front of us, so it is too early to discuss such a matter because it requires wide public opinion. It also requires a lot of procedures and laws in order to discuss it, and to be honest, we have not considered it yet.”
The post Syria’s Sharaa Aims to Restore US Ties, No Contacts Yet With Trump Administration first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.