Syrian President: Security deal with Israel possible, but no recognition

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in New York Monday for the UN General Assembly, expressing cautious optimism about a potential security agreement with Israel, while firmly rejecting normalization. Sharaa, who led the rebel forces that ousted Bashar Al-Assad last December, is scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and deliver Syria’s first address to the General Assembly in decades

Speaking at the Concordia summit and quoted by France24, Sharaa said, “I hope that that will lead us to an agreement that will keep the sovereignty of Syria and also resolve some of the security fears of Israel.” However, Sharaa dismissed the possibility of joining the Abraham Accords, which saw the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco normalize ties with Israel. “Syria is different as those that are part of the Abraham Accords are not Israel's neighbors. Syria has been subjected to more than 1,000 Israeli raids, strikes and incursions from the Golan Heights into Syria,” he stated.

He further accused Israel of violating peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan and questioned its intentions in Syria. “There is also huge anger over what's going on in Gaza, not only in Syria but in the entire world, and of course this impacts our position on Israel,” Sharaa added. His comments come a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel’s recent military campaign against Hezbollah had opened a “new window of possibility” for peace with Syria and Lebanon. (Read More)