Syria’s al-Sharaa: Negotiations ongoing for security deal with Israel

Syria’s interim president has confirmed negotiations to reach a security deal between his country and Israel which has repeatedly attacked its war-shattered neighbour since the overthrow of long-time Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.

Israel and Syria, who have been officially at war since 1948, reached a disengagement pact in 1974.

The accord, originally brokered after the 1973 war, established a buffer zone on the Golan Heights under UN supervision to separate Israeli and Syrian forces.

“Israel considered with the fall of the regime, Syria has pulled out from the 1974 agreement although Syria from the first moment demonstrated its commitment to it,” al-Sharaa said in a TV interview aired on Friday night.

“Negotiations are currently under way on a security agreement so that Israel would return to its pre-December 8 position,” he told Syrian state television al-Ekhbariya, referring to the day when al-Assad was ousted.

“Negotiating has not concluded yet,” added al-Sharaa, who assumed power after al-Assad’s ouster.

Last month, Israel and Syria held direct talks in Paris under US mediation.

The Golan Heights, occupied by Israel in 1967 and annexed in 1981, are a central point of contention. The annexation is not recognized internationally.

Israel deployed additional troops to the area after al-Assad’s fall and has since stepped up airstrikes in Syria, saying they aimed to prevent Syria’s weapons from falling into the hands of extremists.

Israel also bombed areas in Syria’s south and in the capital Damascus with the stated aim of protecting the Druze, after deadly violence had erupted in the Syrian province of Sweida, a stronghold of the religious minority community.

The Druze, who emerged from Shiite Islam, live mainly in Syria, but also in Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan.