Khaberni - The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported from sources that the negotiations with Syria to reach a security agreement have reached a deadlock.
The Israeli sources told the Authority this Monday evening that Israel rejects the Syrian President Ahmad al-Shura's request to withdraw its forces from all areas it occupied after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime on December 8, 2024.
The same sources added that Israel is not ready to withdraw from these areas except in exchange for signing a comprehensive peace agreement with Syria, not merely a security agreement. Such an agreement is currently not in sight, according to sources.
It was expected that Syria and Israel would sign a security agreement under American sponsorship on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings in September, but journalistic reports indicated that the talks stumbled at the last moment.
Israeli security sources at the time spoke of differences that appeared during the meetings held by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Sheibani and Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, mainly related to Damascus's demands for Israeli withdrawal from the positions it had occupied since late 2024 and to return to the borders of the 1974 disengagement agreement and to stop violating Syrian airspace.
Reuters also reported from sources that the talks stumbled due to Israel's demand to allow it to open a "humanitarian corridor" to the southern Syrian province of Sweida.
Since 1967, Israel has occupied most of the Syrian Golan Heights, and exploited the events of the overthrow of Assad’s regime to breach the buffer zone and extend its occupation to Syrian territory and seized the strategic Mount Hermon, overriding the 1974 disengagement agreement.
Israel also launched airstrikes that killed civilians and destroyed military sites, vehicles, weapons, and ammunition belonging to the Syrian army.
