The fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad means that a real opportunity exists to build a legitimate state there that can serve the interests of the people, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee said Sunday.

Syria was little more than a criminal enterprise under the Assad regime, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington said on “FOX News Sunday.”

The country’s current president, former Islamist Ahmed al-Sharaa, seems to genuinely want to build a proper working state, Rep. Smith said.

“The challenge is helping and supporting him to get there, and it’s a delicate balance,” he said.

Rep. Smith credited President Trump for loosening some of the financial restrictions on the new government in Damascus to help it restore order throughout the country.

“The posture should be — and I think President Trump did this right in lifting some of the sanctions in Syria - to support this government get to the place that they want to be and get the violence under control,” he said.

The U.S. needs Israel’s cooperation the ease the path forward for Syria, he said.

“But, that’s not going to have a lot to say about how peaceful the region is in … the decades to come,” Rep. Smith said.

Sectarian clashes have continued in southern Syria despite President al-Sharaa’s announcement of an “immediate ceasefire” of the fighting between Bedouin gunmen and Druze fighters.

“It’s a very difficult place. There are a lot of different factions, but I’m certainly more hopeful than when Assad was in charge,” Rep. Smith told FOX News. “What Assad was doing there gave no hope and no future.”

Israel has announced its support of the Druze, a religious minority in Syria with ties to Israel, and launched airstrikes last week that targeted military buildings and locations near the presidential palace.

“I was very worried about Israel dropping bombs in the middle of Damascus because if you undermine the al-Sharra government, then it’s chaos,” Rep. Smith said.

On Sunday, Syria’s Bedouin clan leaders said their forces have pulled out of the Druze-majority city of Swedia following a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement. More than 900 people have been killed there since fighting erupted last week, according to the Agence France-Press news agency.

Ambassador Tom Barrack, the Trump administration’s special envoy for Syria, said “escalating hostilities” will only be contained with an agreement to pause the violence, protect the innocent, and allow humanitarian access.

“The next foundation stone on a path to inclusion and lasting de-escalation is a complete exchange of hostages and detainees, the logistics of which are in process,” Ambassador Barrack, who also serves as the U.S. envoy to Turkey, said Sunday in a post on X. 

Syria’s President al-Sharaa renewed his pledge to ensure the welfare of Syria’s people regardless of their religion or ethnic heritage.

“The Syrian state is committed to protecting all minorities and communities in the country,” he said, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency. “We condemn all crimes committed,” in Sweida.

Despite the ceasefire and Bedouin withdrawal from Druze-controlled areas, Sweida is facing deteriorating humanitarian conditions, including a lack of drinking water, food, medical supplies, and electricity, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based humanitarian organization focusing on the Syrian Civil War.

“Al-Sweida National Hospital is facing a dire situation, as reports indicate that the morgue is full and can no longer accommodate more bodies,” the group said. “The hospital has been completely paralyzed for days, as a result of power cuts, running out of water and medicines, and the absence of basic foodstuffs.”

Corpses have been left inside the hospital for several days amid a severe shortage of essential medical supplies.

“Residents of al-Sweida have been unable to bury the victims killed during the escalation that began seven days ago,” according to the NGO.

Despite the promising change of leadership in Syria, Rep. Smith said it will be “extraordinarily difficult” to keep the country’s various factions at bay to provide the people with a government that’s worth supporting.

“It’s going to be a major challenge,” he said.

• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.