Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, whose nom de guerre is Abu Muhammad al-Julani, said Wednesday that Syria and Israel were only “four to five days” away from reaching the basis of a security agreement in July, but that developments in the Sweida governorate, including the massacre of thousands of Druze there, caused the talks to deteriorate. He noted that “security talks with Israel may bring results in the coming days,” but added that strikes on the Defense Ministry in Damascus and near the presidential palace in July amounted to “a declaration of war.”
He said Israel has carried out more than 1,000 strikes on Syria and conducted more than 400 ground incursions since December 8, when the rebel offensive he led toppled former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
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Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa with U.S. President Donald Trump
(Photo: Khalil Ashawi/Reuters)
Al-Sharaa made the remarks Thursday in a briefing for journalists ahead of his trip to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, and said that “Syria has refrained from responding militarily so far in order to preserve the negotiations.” He said that if the security agreement succeeds it might lead in the future to “additional understandings.” He also insisted that “peace and normalization are not on the table right now,” and described the security pact as “necessary so that Israel will respect Syria’s airspace and territorial space.”
The U.N. would need to supervise such an agreement, al-Sharaa said. Reuters reported this week that Washington had pressed Damascus to reach a deal with Jerusalem ahead of world leaders’ arrival next week for the U.N. General Assembly, but the Syrian president denied on Wednesday that the United States was putting any pressure on him and said Washington was merely performing its role as mediator.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that senior U.S. diplomats who focused on Syria were abruptly fired, according to five sources who spoke with the news agency. The dismissals were sudden and without prior warning. The diplomats were part of a de-facto U.S. mission based in Istanbul and reported directly to U.S. special envoy Thomas Barrack. The State Department said it did not intend to comment on “personnel adjustments,” though one source said there were serious disagreements between the team and Barrack over the new regime in Syria.
Saudi channel Asharq quoted an Axios report saying Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani is due in Washington Thursday to discuss lifting the remaining sanctions on his country—an appearance that would make him the first Syrian minister to visit officially in 25 years. A Syrian government source told the Qatari channel Al-Arabi that “the Syrian vision includes Israel’s withdrawal from all territories seized after the fall of the Assad regime on Dec. 8. In return for ending the aggression, the Syrian delegation has pledged to guarantee border security with Israel.” He referred to Israel’s positions as “the occupied territories.
According to al-Sharaa’s briefing, Damascus seeks an arrangement similar to the 1974 separation-of-forces pact with Israel, which created a demilitarized buffer between the two countries. He said he wants the IDF to withdraw from Syrian territory, but accused Israel of wanting to remain in strategic points it captured after Assad’s fall, including Mount Hermon. Jerusalem has on several occasions stated since Assad’s fall that it intends to continue controlling those areas. Al-Sharaa also said it is too early to discuss the fate of the Golan Heights because “it is a big matter,” as he put it. “It’s a difficult case—you have negotiations between a Damascene and a Jew,” he said to reporters with a smile.
Diplomatic sources told the Arabic edition of The Independent that Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani was also due to meet Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in the presence of Barrack; that meeting was reported to have been set for yesterday. According to the draft agreement that Syria and Israel are said to be negotiating, the Syrian military would not deploy heavy weapons along the border with Israel and new lines would be drawn for a buffer zone between the two countries. The arrangement would also address settling the conflict in Sweida, which led to horrific massacres of the Druze population that had received support from Israel.