The U.S. special envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkey walked back remarks that Israel continues to occupy the Golan Heights, comments that conflicted with President Donald Trump’s 2019 recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the territory.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 war and annexed it in 1981. The United Nations and most of the international community consider the area occupied Syrian land and do not recognize Israel’s annexation. In 2019, Trump reversed decades of U.S. policy by recognizing Israeli sovereignty, and the current U.S. position was set by that decision and remains unchanged, according to the envoy.

In a statement to the Associated Press on Sunday, Envoy Tom Barrack said his earlier description of the Golan as still occupied reflected its historical status, not an endorsement of U.N. policy. He said he was explaining why he does not expect annexation in Lebanon, where Israeli forces occupy parts of the south after recent fighting with Hezbollah, and argued that negotiated agreements, rather than fixed territorial maps, are more durable. He cited the Golan as an example that territory taken by force remains contested for generations.

Barrack also criticized Israel’s airstrikes on a Syrian airbase last week, saying the strikes were based on intelligence and recommended by the Israeli army. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on social media that critics who called the strikes unnecessary had changed their view after the government said they were based on clear intelligence and army recommendations. He added that Israel would not allow Turkey to establish a presence in Syria that threatens Israeli security.

The strikes highlighted growing tensions between Israel and Turkey over Ankara’s expanding influence in Syria after the fall of Bashar Assad. Turkey and Syria deny that Turkish forces were to be deployed at the Abu Duhur base. Barrack’s remarks on the Golan also drew criticism in Washington; Senator Rick Scott said the ambassador appeared to have forgotten Trump’s recognition of Israeli sovereignty. Barrack responded that he was describing the difficulty of negotiations, not proposing new parties, and stressed that the United States does not negotiate with Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization. He said his comments about Iran’s financial support for Shiite groups in Lebanon were not meant to confer standing on anyone.