Syria's de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa hosted Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt on Sunday in another effort to reassure minorities they will be protected after Islamist rebels led the ouster of Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago.

The White House expressed growing concerns about the ISIS resurgence in Syria. It comes as the Biden administration is taking a final diplomatic push in the Middle East before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Following the fall of Assad's regime, tensions across the Middle East have continued to remain high prompting concerns from countries in the area.

As those in the lucrative Captagon network move aside, how will the new leaders stop any criminals waiting in the wings to replace them?

Will he walk the walk and not just talk the talk? And if he doesn’t win in the elections, will he peacefully stand aside for whoever does win?” one analyst said.

The high-level delegation arrived to engage in talks with Syria's interim leadership, the State Department confirmed early Friday.

The toppling of Bashar Assad has raised tentative hopes that Syrians might live peacefully and as equals after a half century of authoritarian rule.

HTS has long had a strained relationship with the other major rebel bloc in Syria, the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA). The SNA's focus during the recent offensive has largely aligned with Ankara's priorities - seizing Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria to eliminate what Turkey perceives as a Kurdish "threat" along its borders.

A prominent Lebanese politician has met with the insurgent who led the overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar Assad and both expressing hope for a new era in relations between their countries

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has more than doubled the number of its forces in Syria to fight the Islamic State group — a dramatic increase that the Pentagon revealed Thursday, acknowledging that the added troops have been there for months or even more than a year.