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3. Syrian President Considers Negotiations With Israel Over Golan Heights

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Friday he is considering “long-term negotiations” with Israel over the Golan Heights, provided the two countries reach a security agreement guaranteeing Israel’s withdrawal from recently occupied Syrian territories.

“Israel is violating the 1974 disengagement agreement, and today we are working to reach a security deal that ensures its withdrawal from territories it occupied after the fall of the [Assad] regime and its return to the 1974 lines,” Sharaa said at a diplomatic forum in Antalya.

Since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 and the rise of an Islamist-led coalition in Syria, Israel has deployed troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone separating the two sides on the Golan. Israel captured most of the territory from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and later annexed the areas under its control.

Sharaa said Syria seeks either to “establish new rules that would reactivate the disengagement agreement” or to conclude a new accord ensuring security for both sides. “If we reach an agreement, we could engage in long-term negotiations to resolve the issue of the occupied Golan,” he added.

In mid-February, Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Chaibani said ongoing talks on a security agreement with Israel focus on recently occupied areas, excluding the broader Golan issue. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly signaled he has no intention of returning the annexed Golan, a move not recognized by the UN.

AFP