Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah has created the opportunity of peace with Lebanon and Syria.
“Our victories in Lebanon against Hezbollah have opened a window of opportunities that was unimaginable before our recent operations; there is a possibility of peace with our northern neighbors,” Netanyahu said ahead of a government meeting.
“We are in contact with the Syrians; there has been progress, but it’s not immediate,” he added.
Since an Islamist coalition took power in Damascus in December 2024, Syria and Israel, technically at war for decades, have begun dialogue. Negotiations are advancing and are expected to result in “several security agreements” by the end of the year, Damascus announced last week.
Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against military positions in Syria. The Israeli army has also entered the demilitarized buffer zone of the Golan Heights, bordering the part of the plateau occupied by Israel since 1967, regularly carrying out incursions and holding positions in southern Syria.
On the Lebanese front, Israel continues strikes targeting Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire agreement reached in November 2024 after over a year of hostilities, including two months of open war, with the Iran-backed Lebanese movement. Under U.S. pressure, the Lebanese government asked in August for the army to prepare a plan to disarm Hezbollah, which has been severely weakened by the war.
Netanyahu also warned that creating a Palestinian state would threaten Israel’s existence and vowed to oppose such calls at the UN General Assembly.
“We will have to (...) fight at the UN and on all other fronts against the false propaganda against us and the calls for creating a Palestinian state that would endanger our existence and reward terrorism,” the Israeli prime minister said ahead of a cabinet meeting.
“The international community will hear from us on this in the coming days,” he added.
AFP
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