Syrian FM urges Israel to seize ‘historic opportunity’ for bilateral relations
Times of Israel · LC · trust 44/100
DAMASCUS (Rueters) — Syria expects negotiations to resume soon with Israel over a security deal it hopes will lead to Israel’s withdrawal from Syrian land, the Syrian foreign minister said Saturday, urging Israel to seize a “historic opportunity” as the door for diplomacy is open.
In a Reuters interview in Damascus on Saturday, days after Israel bombed a Syrian airbase in the north, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also stressed that Damascus’ priority is to halt Israeli strikes, saying confidence-building steps were needed in this direction.
Washington has been seeking to forge a security deal between Israel and the government of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a new US ally in the Middle East, for over a year. But it has proven elusive as Israel has kept troops in Syrian territory and attacked government assets, citing threats to its security.
Shaibani said negotiations over the security agreement had been frozen since the start of the Iran war, but he expected them to restart. Contact between Syria and Israel was cut after the airbase strike, he added.
“We believe there should be contact, especially with a party that constantly threatens the security of Syria. But if this contact doesn’t bring results, then we don’t need it,” Shaibani said. “We do not trust Israel currently.”
In Israel, the Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to a request for comment on Shaibani’s statements.
Sharaa has said Syria poses no threat to other countries, with Damascus focused on rebuilding from 14 years of civil war.
Israeli officials have talked about a range of potential dangers in Syria since Bashar al-Assad was toppled in late 2024, with some describing the new rulers as barely disguised jihadists last year, even as Sharaa forged close US ties.
In the days after Assad fell, Israel seized territory in southwest Syria, citing the need to safeguard its citizens against attack, and bombed scores of Syrian military sites.
“Israel has tried to maintain its security through brute force and it hasn’t succeeded” anywhere, Shaibani said. “I believe negotiations will resume soon.”
“The US is trying continuously to put pressure on Israel to return to the dialogue table,” he added.
Asked how optimistic he was, Shaibani said: “It’s very hard to bet on Israel.” But Syria had “very great hope” of building stable relationships with its neighbors.
“Syria is extending its hand for understandings, for peace, for diplomacy” and regional stability, he said.
Tensions over Syria were brought into focus on Tuesday when Israel bombed Syria’s Abu al-Duhur airbase, saying Damascus was about to allow Turkish forces to deploy there. Syria denounced the strike and Turkey denied the claim that its forces were deployed to the base.
Shaibani said Syria respected Israel’s security concerns but that Israel must respect those of Syria, including Israel’s use of its airspace, Israeli raids and arrests in the south.
He said that around the beginning of the year, the sides had “agreed on paper to almost everything” regarding a security deal that would require Israel to stop strikes in Syria and was tied to its withdrawal from territory seized after Assad fell.
The deal would include several security zones in Syrian territory near the Israeli border, including a buffer zone where only the United Nations would be present, and others where Syrian forces would deploy in varying degrees of force.
But he said Israel had sought to evade implementation, adding: “We did not see they had the real will to reach an agreement.”
Syria and Israel have technically been in a state of war since 1948. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six Day War and annexed it in the 1980s, in a move only recognized by the US, and very recently, Colombia.
The priority now is to “stop Israeli aggression even before reaching a security agreement,” Shaibani said. “Then perhaps we can open the topics of peace and the Golan.”
US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said on Tuesday that Washington was working to establish a mechanism to prevent conflict among Israel, Turkey and Syria.
Shaibani said there was no agreement yet on the mechanism, which he said must stop attacks and pave the way for the security deal rather than “entrenching… Israeli occupation.”
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shaibani said Israel had bombed Abu al-Duhur even after Syria conveyed a message that it would not be a Turkish base.
Syria draws on Turkish support in military training and cooperation, he said, noting that this was also the case with Jordan, Saudi Arabia and others.
Damascus was thankful for Turkey’s support in rebuilding its military “and we won’t forgo support,” he said.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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