Syria foreign minister says door open for diplomacy with Israel

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani says the door for diplomacy with Israel is open, urging it to seize a “historic opportunity”.

In an interview with the Reuters news agency, published on Sunday, al-Shaibani said he expects the talks over a security deal that would lead to Israel’s withdrawal from Syrian territory to resume soon.

He said negotiations over the security agreement were frozen at the start of the US-Israel war on Iran and that no date has been set for a resumption of talks.

Al-Shaibani also stressed that Damascus’s priority is to halt Israeli attacks, saying confidence-building steps were needed in this direction.

The United States has been trying to broker a security deal between Israel and the government of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a new US ally in the Middle East, for ⁠more than a year. But an agreement has proven elusive as Israel has sent troops into Syrian territory and attacked government assets, citing threats to its security.

“We believe there should be contact, especially with a party that constantly threatens the security of Syria. But if this contact doesn’t bring results, then we don’t need it,” al-Shaibani said. “We do not trust Israel currently.”

Al-Sharaa has said Syria poses no threat to other countries and that it is instead focused on rebuilding after 14 years of civil war.

Israeli officials have talked about a range of potential dangers in Syria, with several last year criticising the new government, even as al-Sharaa worked to strengthen ties with Washington.

In the days after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in 2024, Israel seized territory in southwest Syria, citing the need to safeguard its citizens against attack, and bombed dozens of Syrian military sites.

“Israel has tried to maintain its security through brute force, and it hasn’t succeeded” anywhere, al-Shaibani said. “I believe negotiations will resume soon.”

He said the US is pressuring Israel to return to the dialogue table.

Asked how optimistic he was that talks would resume, al-Shaibani said: “It’s very hard to bet on Israel.” But Syria ⁠had “very great hope” of building stable relationships with its neighbours.

“Syria is extending its hand for understandings, for peace, for diplomacy” and regional stability.

Israeli attacks cast doubt on will to make deal

Tensions over Syria were brought into focus last week when Israel bombed the Abu al-Duhur airbase, saying Damascus was about to allow Turkish forces to deploy there. Syria and Turkiye denied the claim.

Al-Shaibani said Syria respected Israel’s security concerns but that it must also respect those of Damascus, instead of violating its airspace and conducting raids and arrests in the south of the country.

He said earlier this year, ⁠the two sides had “agreed on paper to almost everything” regarding a security deal that would require Israel to stop attacking Syria and was tied to its withdrawal from territory seized after al-Assad fell.

That deal would include several security zones in Syrian territory near the Israeli border, including ⁠a buffer zone where only the United Nations would be present, and others where Syrian forces would deploy in varying ⁠degrees of force.

However, he said, Israel had sought to evade implementation, adding: “We did not see they had the real will to reach an agreement.”

Golan Heights a sticking point

Syria and Israel have technically been in a state of war since 1948. Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967.

Al-Shaibani said the priority now is to “stop Israeli aggression even before reaching a security agreement”, and then “perhaps we can open the topics of peace and the Golan”.

Israeli officials have indicated they are not willing to return the Golan Heights to the al-Sharaa government.

US special envoy for Syria, Tom ‌Barrack, said last week that Washington was working to establish a mechanism to prevent conflict among Israel, Turkiye and Syria.

Al-Shaibani said there was no agreement yet on the mechanism, which he said must stop attacks and pave the way for the security deal rather than “entrenching … Israeli occupation”.

The US Department of State did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Al-Shaibani said Israel had bombed ‌Abu ‌al-Duhur even after Syria conveyed a message that it would not be a Turkish base.

Syria draws on Turkish support in military training and cooperation, he said, noting that this was also the case with Jordan, Saudi Arabia and others.

Damascus was thankful for Turkiye’s support in rebuilding its military, “and we won’t forgo support”, he said.