President Biden’s two top national security officials left for the Middle East on Wednesday as the sudden fall of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s longtime autocratic ruler, to militias has prompted a diplomatic scramble in the region.
Antony J. Blinken, the secretary of state, is traveling to Jordan and Turkey, while Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, is visiting Israel, U.S. officials said. A central part of their discussions will revolve around the future governance of Syria.
Mr. Sullivan plans to be in Israel for a few days, with official meetings starting on Thursday, said Sean Savett, a National Security Council spokesman.
“Tomorrow, he’ll meet with Israeli officials as part of our close consultations on a range of important issues, including efforts to reach a hostage release and cease-fire deal in Gaza, the latest developments in Syria, and for discussions about Lebanon and Iran,” Mr. Savett said. “After that, he is planning to travel onward to Qatar and Egypt.”
Mr. Biden and President-elect Donald J. Trump have both urged Israel and Hamas to reach a cease-fire deal that would result in the release of scores of hostages who were taken by Hamas and other armed groups in the attack on Israel in October 2023.
The groups killed about 1,200 people in that assault, most of them civilians. That ignited a war in which the Israeli military has destroyed most of Gaza and killed about 43,000 Palestinians, both civilians and combatants, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas had stagnated for months, but there are signs they could regain momentum.
Mr. Blinken plans to fly first to Aqaba, Jordan, and then travel on to Ankara, Turkey, the State Department announced.
Mr. Blinken expects to press Arab and Turkish officials for help ensuring a transition to an “accountable and representative” new Syrian government that respects the rights of minorities and can “prevent Syria from being used as a base of terrorism or posing a threat to its neighbors, and ensure that chemical weapons stockpiles are secured and safely destroyed,” the State Department said.
Mr. Blinken’s most important meetings are expected to take place in Ankara, given Turkey’s close ties to the rebel group that stormed across northern Syria and helped force Mr. al-Assad to flee to exile in Russia.
The United States does not yet directly communicate with that group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which it officially labels a terrorist organization. Matthew Miller, the State Department spokesman, said on Tuesday that U.S. law does not bar the government from speaking directly to the group, but implied that contacts have been indirect.
“We have the ability to get messages to every one of the relevant groups inside Syria and let them know what our priorities are, ” he said.
Mr. Blinken has been on the phone constantly with officials in the region since the lightning advance by the militias toward Damascus last weekend. On Tuesday, he spoke with officials in Jordan, Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. On Monday, he spoke with Hakan Fidan, the foreign minister of Turkey.
The State Department said Wednesday that in addition to pushing for a cease-fire in Gaza, Mr. Blinken planned to insist that Israel allow more humanitarian aid into the territory.
In Syria, the United States is also worried about the potential for an all-out war between a U.S.-supported Kurdish militia in the northeast and rebel forces backed by Turkey, which calls the armed Kurds terrorists. U.S. troops are working with the Kurds in a campaign against the remnants of the Islamic State.
The State Department’s top counterterrorism official acknowledged on Wednesday that the United States had been caught off-guard by the Assad government’s sudden collapse.
“We still get surprised,” the official, Elizabeth Richard, said at a counterterrorism conference in Washington.
As the Biden administration rushes to find ways to engage with groups in Syria and around the Middle East, Ms. Richard said the United States would need to deal with designated terrorist organizations that led the fight to topple Mr. Assad, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
“We can’t wait till everyone is Mother Teresa and then talk to them,” said Ms. Richard, a former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon. “This situation illustrates how much these days we need to work in the gray. This is not black and white. This is not good guys and bad guys.”
“That does not mean we recognize a terrorist group as the owner of Syria today,” she added. “There’s a lot that needs to happen before that happens. However I think we have gotten more comfortable as a government in working in the gray.”
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