Syrian President: "Deal With Israel Within Reach"

Syria is moving toward a potential security agreement with Israel, President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Sunday, adding that the chances of such a deal being reached are greater than the chances it will fail.

Speaking to a delegation of Arab media leaders in Damascus, al Sharaa stressed that any framework would build on the 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria, designed to protect Syrian sovereignty and open the door to confidence-building measures. While he noted the current conditions are not ripe for a peace treaty, he declared that if he sees such a deal serving Syria and the region, he “will not hesitate to make it public.”

The president also addressed Lebanon, saying he wants to “open a new page” in relations on a state-to-state basis, distancing Damascus from past entanglements with Hezbollah.

“Intervening in Lebanon is a trap,” al Sharaa reportedly told the delegation, signaling a desire to avoid renewed clashes and instead focus on regional growth.

On the domestic front, he highlighted the crisis in Sweida, condemning armed groups outside state control and insisting on unity. He added that this principle would guide any settlement with Syria’s Kurds, Druze, or Alawites.

Al Sharaa pointed to his March 10 agreement with Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, as a basis for reconciliation, but warned that the northeast, rich in farmland, oil resources, and strategic geography, cannot become a battleground.

“The Kurds are part of the Syrian government,” he said, underlining his rejection of any partition of Syria.

The question of whether Israel will be required to carry out a territorial withdrawal from the area it captured within Syria during the October 2024 regime change has not yet been clarified.