US envoy calls Lebanon a 'failed state' as Syria expected to join anti-IS coalition

The US's special envoy for Syria on Saturday called Lebanon "a failed state" in remarks underscoring Washington’s frustration with Beirut’s "paralysed government," even as Syria inches toward closer ties with the U.S.

Speaking at the Manama Dialogue summit in Bahrain during a panel on "U.S. Policy in the Levant," Thomas Barrack hailed developments in Syria following the downfall of Bashar Assad in December. He confirmed that Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa is expected to visit Washington on 10 November — the first such visit by a Syrian president since the country's independence in 1946.

Barrack also said that Syria is expected to join the U.S.-led anti–Islamic State group coalition, describing it as "a big step" and "remarkable." The coalition includes some 80 countries working to prevent a resurgence of IS.

As for Lebanon, Barrack pointedly said it was the only state in the region "not jumping in line" with the new Middle East realignments. "The state is Hezbollah," he said, noting that the group provides for its supporters and fighters in ways the Lebanese state cannot — in a country where basic services like electricity and water are chronically unreliable.

"It is really up to the Lebanese. America is not going to get deeper involved in the situation with a foreign terrorist organisation and a failed state dictating the pace and asking for more resources and more money and more help," he said.

Barrack added that the U.S. would not intervene in regional disputes but would support its ally if Israel stepped up aggression toward Lebanon.

Israel recently intensified its strikes on southern Lebanon. Both sides have accused each other of violating a ceasefire, which nominally ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war last November. The conflict started after Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinians under bombardment, prompting Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling in return. The low-level exchanges escalated into full-scale war in September 2024.

Since the ceasefire, Israel has continued to carry out near-daily strikes across southern Lebanon, saying they target Hezbollah militants, weapons depots and command centers. Israeli forces have also maintained positions on several strategic points inside Lebanese territory.

Lebanese officials however have accused Israel of striking civilian areas and destroying infrastructure unrelated to Hezbollah, calling on Israeli forces to withdraw and respect Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Barrack said that Israel is still bombing southern Lebanon because "thousands of rockets and missiles" remain there, threatening it. But he acknowledged that "it is not reasonable for us to tell Lebanon to forcibly disarm one of its political parties — everybody is scared to death to go into a civil war."

"The path is very clear — that it needs to be to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv for a conversation along with Syria. Syria is showing the way," Barrack said, adding that Syria and Israel are expected to hold a fifth set of de-escalation discussions.

The United States is leading a diplomatic push involving Syria and Israel, who are engaged in direct negotiations to de-escalate tensions and restore a 1974 ceasefire agreement. That deal established a demilitarized separation zone between Israeli and Syrian forces and stationed a U.N. peacekeeping force to maintain calm.

Tensions have soared between the two neighbors following the overthrow of Assad in December in a lightning rebel offensive led by Islamist insurgents.

Shortly after Assad’s overthrow, Israeli forces seized control of the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in Syria set up under the 1974 agreement and carried out airstrikes on military sites in what officials said was aimed at creating a demilitarized zone south of Damascus.

Israel has said it will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves along the frontier, as Iranian-backed groups did during Assad’s rule. It distrusts Syria’s new government.