Syrian president Ahmed Al-Sharaa announced that Damascus is pursuing a security agreement with Israel, involving multiple international powers to stabilize the region while retaining sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The diplomatic push coincides with high-level United Nations visits and ongoing discussions regarding foreign military presence and regional stability.
Syrian authorities are seeking to broker a security arrangement with Israel that could pave the way toward a comprehensive regional peace, according to statements made by the Syrian leadership. The diplomatic initiative aims to engage a broad coalition of nations to encourage a balanced approach toward Damascus without compromising Syria’s territorial claims over the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau seized by Israel during the 1967 war and annexed in 1981.
Security Arrangements and the Golan Heights Stance
Political researchers note that any viable security framework depends strictly on military withdrawal and a return to the demarcation lines established under the 1974 disengagement agreement. Following the December 2024 fall of former leader Bashar al-Assad’s administration to opposition forces led by the president, Israeli forces pushed into the demilitarized buffer zone inside Syrian territory, including the Syrian side of Mount Hermon overlooking Damascus. Israel has also detained individuals from inside Syria and intervened in operations it described as missions to protect the Druze,
an ethnic minority in southwestern Syria.
Diplomatic Engagement and International Sanctions Relief
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres visited Damascus, marking the first visit by a UN secretary-general to the country since 2009.
Concurrently, the Syrian president announced that the United States is moving toward completing the removal of all laws and legislation restricting the country, most notably the cancellation of Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism adopted in 1979. Al-Sharaa noted that this follows the lifting of the Caesar Act thanks to mediation led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Saudi Arabia with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
جرت وساطة خلال العام الماضي من قبل المملكة العربية السعودية، وتدخل فخامة الرئيس أردوغان متوسطا لدى الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية والرئيس ترامب لرفع العقوبات عن سوريا، حيث اقتنع الرئيس ترامب ورفع عقوبات قانون قيصر
أحمد الشرع
Al-Sharaa explained the remaining legislative and temporal path for removing the American designation: بقي تصنيف سوريا كدولة راعية للإرهاب وهو من صلاحيات الخارجية الأمريكية بتوصية من ترامب,
adding that the decision is raised to Congress for 45 days to prevent objection rather than for a vote, and upon the expiration of this period the final decision is issued and signed by Trump to officially remove it.
The Lebanese File and Regional Positioning
In a televised interview with Qatar’s Al Jazeera channel from Damascus, Al-Sharaa outlined the interim phase and set the country’s positions on regional and internal files, confirming that Damascus will not engage militarily in the Lebanese crisis while supporting the issue of restricting arms and the decision of war and peace to the hands of the Lebanese state.
Furthermore, Al-Sharaa stated that the country has taken all necessary measures to confront any potential threats from armed factions on the border with Iraq, emphasizing openness to all regional and international parties while adhering to the principle of non-involvement in regional conflicts and working to restore the state’s role and regional standing.
