This military campaign unfolds even as U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack expresses confidence in the potential for a breakthrough. In an interview with The National on December 5, Barrack stated, “My personal view on the President's desire is we'll get a deal there, starting with the security and border agreement... I think Israel wants that too.” He characterized the Al Shara government as “totally co-operative,” but acknowledged that “Israel is not trusting yet, so it's pretty slow.”
Israel’s actions, however, present a stark counterpoint to this diplomatic optimism. By sending forces across the UN-controlled buffer zone established in 1974, Israel is violating the longstanding Separation of Forces agreement. A regional security source in Jordan told *The National* the Beit Jin raid “was meant to show Al Shara that Israel will keep dealing with security threats from Syria the way it wants, regardless of the United States.” The operation triggered rare grassroots resistance from residents of Beit Jin, a village whose smuggling-based economy has been crippled by Israeli incursions. Israeli forces detained at least 30 men and killed Mohammad Okasheh, whose brothers died in earlier strikes over alleged Hamas links—a move local sources describe as an overreach that prompted a violent clan mobilization, or fazaa.
While President Donald Trump has publicly urged Israel to maintain dialogue with Damascus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has concurrently demanded a large buffer zone. The strategic calculus, experts suggest, echoes that of 1974, when Hafez Al Assad accepted the armistice partly because Israeli forces threatened Damascus. “Damascus is again in their sights,” a regional security official said. “They don’t want to take it, but they want to extend their military advantage and keep Al Shara weak.” With Israel conducting further drone strikes mere days after the U.S. envoy’s confident remarks, the path from military confrontation to a U.S.-brokered security deal appears fraught and distant.