(Zero Hedge)—American diplomat and Trump admin official Richard Grenell has issued the following message on X: “I have just been given horrific news and videos of what is said to be an American citizen from Oklahoma who has been brutally killed in Syria. He is Druse. I have passed it on to a senior State Department official and a Member of Congress to check the facts.”
Unconfirmed reports have identified the slain American as Hosam Saraya, a member of the Druze community, who was among those killed in the outbreak of sectarian violence earlier this month. Hardline Sunnis of the Jolani/Sharaa regime have been sent to disarm the Druze community of Syria’s Sweida region, resulting in ethno-religious cleansing.
Further, a video circulating online allegedly shows Saraya and his whole family being executed by unidentified militants. A State Department official has told one regional media source, “The department is reviewing reports regarding the death of an individual believed to be a U.S. citizen in Syria.”
The fighting which erupted on July 13 has left hundreds dead, mostly Druze and many civilians, as fighting broke out between Druze militias and Sunni Bedouin groups.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters from Damascus, representing the government, have even before this latest flare-up in violence been conducting brutal attacks against Druze areas, often torturing young men and conducting street executions.
Over the weekend, Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged the Syrian government to stop “violent jihadists” from committing atrocities in the south – but a ceasefire has reportedly held since then.
There are further reports that Druze women and children have been kidnapped by HTS jihadists, also following widespread accusations that Alawite women have been targeted for forced marriages and sex slavery.
Still the US ambassador to Turkey, who is also special envoy to Syria, is standing by the new post-Assad regime and its fanatical jihadists:
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.
Barrack told the AP that “the killing, the revenge, the massacres on both sides” are “intolerable,” but that “the current government of Syria, in my opinion, has conducted themselves as best they can as a nascent government with very few resources to address the multiplicity of issues that arise in trying to bring a diverse society together.”
At a press conference later, he said Syrian authorities “need to be held accountable” for violations.
Jolani’s TV station accidentally exposed the kidnapping of Druze women & children at the hands of forces loyal to the self-appointed president, then the interviewer was asked to cut the interview.
There are now dozens of confirmed cases of kidnapped of Druze civilians in Suwayda pic.twitter.com/ZjLsH2a47Z
— Bassem (@BBassem7) July 20, 2025
It was Washington who played a very large role in ousting Assad in the first place, and it is sticking by its band of “former” al-Qaeda terrorists now running Damascus.
And yet it will be the country’s ancient Christian community, as well as all Alawites, Druze, Shia, and any non-Salafi Sunni which continue to suffer. The country’s prior secular identity continues to be stamped out.
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