Congressman Abraham Hamadeh Makes Historic Trip to Syria to Meet with President Ahmed al-Sharaa

WASHINGTON D.C. - Congressman Abraham J. Hamadeh (AZ-08), in an unprecedented trip from Jerusalem to Damascus, met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani to discuss the Congressman's continuing efforts to bring Americans home, advance Peace Through Strength, and advocate for a Syria that looks towards the future and not the past.

This historic step marks the first time an American official has shuttled between Jerusalem and Damascus in decades.

As an emissary of the Peace Through Strength agenda, Congressman Hamadeh, a former U.S. Army Reserve Intelligence Officer, was in Syria for 6 hours to meet with President al-Sharaa to discuss the return of Kayla Mueller's body to her family in Arizona, the need to establish a secure humanitarian corridor for the safe delivery of medical and humanitarian aid to Suwayda, and the need for Syria to attain normalization with Israel and join the Abraham Accords.

In the meeting, Congressman Hamadeh strongly emphasized the need for Syria to course correct in light of recent tragic events.

The Congressman advised interim-President al-Sharaa that in order to establish a unified Syria, the government must provide peace and security for all of its people, including the Christian, Druze, Kurdish, Alawite, and other minority communities. Congressman Hamadeh asserts that this the only way to build a new Syria that is reflective of its ethnic and religious mosaic. 

Congressman Hamadeh remains supportive of President Donald J. Trump’s decision to lift some sanctions in order to assist the Syrian people and their new government in rebuilding their country. However, he believes that Congress should play a key role in this process to ensure that the Syrian government is upholding its commitments to the U.S. As a result, Congressman Hamadeh and his staff have engaged in interagency efforts to ascertain what is, and is not, happening on the ground in Syria amid this current conflict. Congressman Hamadeh is grateful for, and supportive of, Ambassador and Special Envoy Tom Barrack’s strong leadership in the Levant.

BACKGROUND

Congressman Hamadeh is a Member of the House Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs Committees, who is committed to President Trump’s Peace Through Strength agenda by shaping an America First foreign policy that provides long-term stability across the globe.

Congressman Hamadeh is the co-author of the bipartisan Promoting Education on the Abraham Accords for Comprehensive Engagement (PEACE) Act, which aims to strengthen U.S. diplomatic engagement by institutionalizing training on the Abraham Accords and other normalization agreements at the U.S. State Department.

Since before taking office, Congressman Hamadeh vowed to return Kayla Mueller's body to her family in Prescott, Arizona. Kayla was abducted by terrorists in 2013 while leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo, Syria. President Trump successfully sent U.S. special forces into Syria to conduct “Operation Kayla Muller” in 2019 to eliminate the leader of ISIS. Congressman Hamadeh took his oath of office in January 2025 while honoring the life of Kayla by using her family’s Bible during the ceremony in Washington, D.C. He was joined by his family and Kayla's parents, Carl and Marsha Mueller.