Lifting Syria sanctions a complex, time-taking task

On the regional political front, Donald Trump's Gulf tour yielded positive results for Syrians and negative consequences for Palestinians. Following a meeting with Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, Trump announced an end to 49 years of punishing US sanctions on Syria.

Following Trump’s change of policy, US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Syrian foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani met in Turkey to discuss normalisation between the two countries. Trump's surprise amounts to a major gain for Sharaa as well as Turkey, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia which have long favoured such a move.

This amounts to a snub to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who had urged the retention of sanctions. Trump described Sharaa as a "young attractive guy – tough guy" with a "strong past." Trump agued he should have an opportunity to stabilise Syria.

Sharaa's "strong past" includes membership in al-Qaeda in Iraq before the 2003 US war on that country. He joined the insurgency against the US occupation of Iraq and was imprisoned by the US from 2006-2011. Upon his release he founded al-Qaeda's affiliate al-Nusra Front to battle the Assad government in Syria.

He refused to merge with Daesh, cut al-Nusra's connection to al-Qaeda, and, with Turkish backing, took over Syria's northwestern Idlib province where he founded Hay‘at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). It was listed as a terrorist organisation by the US, and a $10 million price was put on his head. After the HTS ouster of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last December, senior US diplomats visited Damascus to discuss Syria's future and remove the bounty.

Lifting sanctions is complicated and could take time. The Trump administration must secure the cooperation of the Treasury, Commerce and State departments as well as the lower house of Congress. In 1979, the US listed Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism and imposed an arms embargo on Syria because of Damascus' demand for the return of the Golan Heights occupied by Israel in 1967 and support for Palestinian resistance groups.

Sanctions were rightened in 2004. After the government's crackdown on protests in 2011, sanctions were imposed on individuals associated with the Assads, foreign assets were frozen, US investments in Syria were prohibited, and restrictions were levelled on oil imports. Trump will have to deal with sanctions enacted by Congress in the 2019 Caesar Act which penalised individuals and firms engaging in business with the Syrian government.

Sharaa has also to meet US conditions for normalisation of relations between Syria and the US. The US has demanded that Sunni HTS ensure the rights and security of Syria's Christian, Druze, Alawite, Shia, and Kurdish minorities and grant them representation in governance. The US has called for destruction of "weapons of mass destruction." As Syria does not have an arsenal of such weapons, this means facilities for the manufacture and stocks of chemical weapons. The US has demanded the disarmament and demobilisation of foreign groups which joined HTS in the battle against the government. At the end of December, Sharaa announced the dissolution of HTS and all armed groups and called for militia fighters' submission to the Defence Ministry. However, this has not taken place, resulting in attacks on Alawite and Druze civilians.

The US also seeks support for its 2,000 troops based in northeastern Syria to eliminate Daesh remnants and for the new Syrian government to assume responsibility for 15,000 Daesh prisoners who are held by US-allied Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces. Washington urged Damascus to cancel connections with Palestinian resistance organisations and designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation. Trump personally asked Sharaa to normalise ties with Israel. However, Israel has occupied the UN-controlled buffer zone between Syria and Israel and since the fall of the Assad dynasty conducted scores of bombing raids against Syrian army facilities.

Instead of insisting that Israel end its Gaza war and more than ten-week blockade of the Strip, Trump has called for Gaza to be called a “freedom zone” — whatever that means for 2.3 million Palestinians. Trump also joined Israel in proposing a plan for delivery of food, fuel, water. and medicine which the UN and allied international agencies argue would "weaponize aid" in violation of international law.

While Israel has said it would not allow aid into Gaza until it has full control, the UN children's agency UNICEF and the World Food programme warned of the risk of famine as long as Israel's blitz, siege and blockade continue. Norwegian Refugee Council head Jan Egeland posted on X, “It is totally wrong that a party to the conflict – in this case Israel — should be in control of lifesaving aid for civilians."

The UAE has refused to fund the plan, making it difficult to convince other potential donors to contribute. Emirati international cooperation minister Reem al-Hashimy told Israeli officials the plan does not address the increasingly dire humanitarian crisis.