President Trump’s special envoy for Syria on Monday criticized Israeli strikes against the country last week as poorly timed and complicating efforts to stabilize the region, in an interview with The Associated Press.

BEIRUT (AP) — A U.S. envoy doubled down on Washington’s support for Syria’s new government, saying Monday there is “no Plan B” to working with it to unite the country still reeling from years of civil war and wracked by new sectarian violence.

U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack says that Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire following Israel’s intervention this week in fighting between Syrian government forces and .

Syria has been wracked by a new wave of deadly sectarian violence that has placed the spotlight on the Druze minority at the center of rising tensions with Israel. Dozens of people were killed this week after clashes between government loyalists and Druze militias in the southern city of Suwayda,

Hundreds of Druze from Israel pushed across the border in solidarity with their Syrian cousins they feared were under attack. Many then met relatives they had never seen before.

Syria should not be allowed back into the international community unless it is able to uphold protections for the Druze and its other minority groups, Israel has said.

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The United States said it did not support recent Israeli strikes on Syria and had made clear its displeasure, while Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa accused Israel of trying to fracture his country.

STORY: Violence in southern Syria has put a spotlight on a small but influential minority, the Druze.:: Who are the Druze?The Druze are Arabs who follow a religion derived from a branch of Islam.They maintain a degree of secrecy about the practice of their faith that emerged in the 11th century.

While strategic considerations were still in play, the heart of the decision lay in defending the extended family of Israel’s own Druze—a gesture shaped as much by kinship as by security. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria over the past decade,