Barak calls for dialogue and restraint to achieve peace in Suwayda

Barak wrote on his account on the X platform: "A year ago, together with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaybani and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, we signed a tripartite peace roadmap in Sweida. This is a path aimed at reintegrating the province into Syria with dignity, while ensuring that the Druze community enjoys full citizenship rights and bears all its obligations. This path remains the only way to prevent us from returning to a cycle of sorrow."

He added: "The Druze in Syria have a long and honorable history. Yet, wherever good governance is absent, gangs fill the vacuum. Today, a few with malicious intent are targeting their own people, as happened with individuals like Atif Hunaidi, who was subjected to arbitrary detention and displacement from his home. Our team is in contact with Mr. Hunaidi and others affected by this internal campaign of violence. It is essential to continue building ties of cooperation among the Druze, Arab tribes, and neighboring countries surrounding Sweida, based on tolerance and understanding, so that they may form one nation and one people, encompassing diverse and respected cultures and beliefs, with their members interacting through community dialogue and empathy, while leaving the option of resorting to force and impulsive emotional reactions where it exclusively belongs: in the hands of the national state."

He continued: "The Syrian government has begun to address the serious crimes committed by its forces last July and to hold those responsible accountable in its courts. This is the path that offers hope, and we must move forward along it. The only way forward is through dialogue that ensures accountability, restores security, and paves the way for the return of displaced persons and the reconstruction of what has been destroyed."

He concluded by saying: "We are going through a sensitive phase, both at the regional and global levels. Therefore, we urge all parties to embody the two qualities that peace has always demanded of the courageous: restraint in actions and serious, sincere communication. The alternative to dialogue is not victory, but another round of mourning and sorrow."