\n<\/p>\n
DAMASCUS: Syria expects negotiations to resume soon with \u200bIsrael over a security deal it hopes will lead to Israel\u2019s withdrawal from Syrian land, a top Syrian minister said, urging Israel to seize a \u201chistoric opportunity\u201d \u200cas the door for diplomacy is open.<\/strong><\/p>\n In a Reuters interview in Damascus on Saturday, days after Israel bombed a Syrian airbase, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also stressed that Damascus\u2019 priority is to halt Israeli attacks, saying confidence-building steps were needed in this direction.<\/span><\/p>\n Washington has been seeking to forge a security deal between Israel and the government of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a new U.S. ally in the Middle East, for over a year. But it \u200bhas proven elusive as Israel has sent troops into Syrian territory and attacked government assets, citing threats to its security.<\/span><\/p>\n Shaibani said negotiations over the security agreement had been frozen \u200bsince the start of the Iran war, but he expected them to restart. Contact between Syria and Israel was cut after the airbase strike, he \u2060said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe believe there should be contact, especially with a party that constantly threatens the security of Syria. But if this contact doesn\u2019t bring results, then we don\u2019t need it,\u201d Shaibani said. \u201cWe \u200bdo not trust Israel currently.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Israeli prime minister\u2019s office did not respond to a request for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n Sharaa has said Syria poses no threat to other countries, with Damascus focused on rebuilding from \u200b14 years of war.<\/span><\/p>\n Israeli officials have talked about a range of potential dangers in Syria since Bashar al-Assad was toppled, with some describing the new rulers as barely disguised jihadists last year, even as Sharaa forged close U.S. ties.<\/span><\/p>\n In the days after Assad fell in 2024, Israel seized territory in southwest Syria, citing the need to safeguard its citizens against attack, and bombed scores of Syrian military sites.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIsrael has tried to maintain its security through brute \u200bforce and it hasn\u2019t succeeded\u201d anywhere, Shaibani said. \u201cI believe negotiations will resume soon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n No date has been set.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe U.S. is trying continuously to put pressure on Israel to return to the dialogue table,\u201d \u200bhe added.<\/span><\/p>\n Asked how optimistic he was, Shaibani said: \u201cIt\u2019s very hard to bet on Israel.\u201d But Syria had \u201cvery great hope\u201d of building stable relationships with its neighbours.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSyria is extending its hand for understandings, for peace, for \u200cdiplomacy\u201d and regional \u2060stability.<\/span><\/p>\n Tensions over Syria were brought into focus on Tuesday when Israel bombed the Abu al-Duhur airbase, saying Damascus was about to allow Turkish forces to deploy there. Syria and Turkey denied the claim.<\/span><\/p>\n Shaibani said Syria respected Israel\u2019s security concerns but that Israel must respect those of Syria, including Israel\u2019s use of its airspace, Israeli raids and arrests in the south.<\/span><\/p>\n He said that around the beginning of the year, the sides had \u201cagreed on paper to almost everything\u201d regarding a security deal that would require Israel to stop attacking Syria and was tied \u200bto its withdrawal from territory seized after Assad \u200bfell.<\/span><\/p>\n The deal would include several security zones \u2060in 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.<\/span><\/p>\n But he said Israel had sought to evade implementation, adding: \u201cWe did not see they had the real will to \u200breach an agreement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Syria and Israel have technically been in a state of war since 1948. Israel seized the Golan Heights from \u200bSyria in a 1967 war.<\/span><\/p>\n The \u2060priority now is to \u201cstop Israeli aggression even before reaching a security agreement\u201d, Shaibani said. \u201cThen perhaps we can open the topics of peace and the Golan.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n U.S. special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said on Tuesday that Washington was working to establish a mechanism to prevent conflict among Israel, Turkey and Syria.<\/span><\/p>\n Shaibani said there was no agreement yet on the mechanism, which he said must stop attacks and pave the way for \u2060the security \u200bdeal rather than \u201centrenching \u2026 Israeli occupation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nU.S. PRESSURE<\/span><\/h2>\n
SYRIA DID NOT SEE ISRAELI WILL TO MAKE DEAL<\/span><\/h2>\n
GOLAN HEIGHTS<\/span><\/h2>\n