U.S. Envoy Raises Flag in Damascus, Declaring Syria–Israel Peace Within Reach

When Thomas Barrack, the newly appointed U.S. envoy to Syria, visited Damascus for the first time, he hoisted the American flag over the former ambassador’s residence—the first such ceremony since the embassy’s 2012 closure—underscoring a swift warming of Washington–Damascus ties under President Trump’s lift on sanctions and high‑level meetings with Syrian leaders.