Parties in Syria agree on steps to end clashes, says Rubio
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the various parties fighting in Syria have agreed on specific steps to end the clashes there.
“We have engaged all the parties involved in the clashes in Syria. We have agreed on specific steps that will bring this troubling and horrifying situation to an end tonight,” Rubio said on X.
“This will require all parties to deliver on the commitments they have made and this is what we fully expect them to do.”
US tells Syria to pull forces out of the south after Israeli attacks
The US is calling on Syria to withdraw its troops from the southern border area to allow for de-escalation with Israel.
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce made the comments after clashes between Syrian government troops and local Druze fighters resumed in the southern city of Suwayda hours after a ceasefire agreement.
“We are calling on the Syrian government to withdraw their military in order to allow all sides to be able to de-escalate,” Bruce said in an interview on Fox News.
UN chief denounces Israel’s attack on Syria
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Israel’s air strikes on Suwayda, Deraa and Damascus.
In a statement by Guterres’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, the UN chief also denounced the Israeli army’s “redeployment of forces in the Golan”.
“He calls for an immediate cessation of all violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and for respect of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement,” said Dujarric.
Iran condemns Israel’s ‘unhinged aggression’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has denounced Israel after it bombed Syria’s capital and other areas. “The rabid Israeli regime knows no bounds and only grasps one language. The world, including the region, must unite to end its unhinged aggression,” he said.
Syria called for the United Nations Security Council to meet as soon as possible to “address the consequences of the Israeli aggression on Syrian territory”.
Unfortunately, this was all too predictable. Which capital is next?
The rabid Israeli regime knows no bounds and only grasps one language. The world, including the region, must unite to end its unhinged aggression.
Iran supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of… pic.twitter.com/93kueERy2S
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) July 16, 2025
Syria’s army begins withdrawal from Suwayda
The Syrian government earlier announced a new ceasefire in Suwayda after clashes a war monitor said killed more than 300 people since Sunday.
The Syrian army “has begun withdrawing from the city of Suwayda in implementation of the terms of the adopted agreement, after the end of the sweep of the city for outlaw groups”, a Defence Ministry statement said.
The statement did not mention any pullout of other government security forces, which deployed to the city on Tuesday following days of deadly fighting between Druze fighters and local Bedouin tribes.
Witnesses have reported that government forces joined with the Bedouins in attacking Druze fighters and civilians in a bloody rampage through the city.
