Al Sharaa Pressures Palestinian Terrorists to Leave – Except Hamas

Syrian interim President Ahmed al Sharaa has pressured Palestinian and other terror groups to leave Syria, with the notable exception of Hamas.

US President Donald Trump’s special representative to Syria, Thomas Barrack, said Saturday that he met with al-Sharaa in Istanbul and praised recent policy shifts, particularly regarding foreign terrorists and diplomatic moves toward Israel.

Barrack, who also serves as the US ambassador to Turkey, released a statement confirming the meeting, highlighting that he applauded Sharaa for “taking meaningful steps” on issues related to foreign fighters and “relations with Israel.”

This meeting followed reports that leaders of Iran-aligned Palestinian terror groups formerly allied with ex-president Bashar al-Assad had exited Syria under pressure from Sharaa, according to unnamed Palestinian sources.

These changes did not seem to impact the status of Gaza-based Hamas, another Iranian-backed group, or Fatah, the secular faction leading the Palestinian Authority from the West Bank.

The US had made it clear that lifting sanctions on Damascus was contingent on a crackdown against Palestinian terror factions based in Syria.

There have also been unofficial claims suggesting that the new Syrian administration has held back-channel discussions with Israel aimed at possible normalization, though Israeli leadership remains wary of Sharaa because of his jihadist background.