An Israeli army vehicle patrols near the fence leading into the UN-patrolled buffer zone, which separates Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights. AFP
Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa said Tuesday that while discussions between Syria and Israel are ongoing, there has been no breakthrough. “There is nothing new regarding the possibility of reaching a security agreement,” he said.
Al-Mustafa reiterated Damascus’s position that normalization is not under consideration as long as Israel maintains a military presence in southern Syria.
“We’re not in the position now to talk about the Abraham Accords, because Israel is occupying part of our country,” he said. Any future dialogue, he added, would require a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement or “another agreement that includes the withdrawal of Israel from all territory occupied after Dec. 8,” when former President Bashar Assad’s government fell.
In an interview with the US network Fox News following his meeting with Trump, Al-Sharaa had said that Syria would not enter negotiations with Israel "at this time." tHe said that Syria's situation "differs from that of the countries" that have signed the Abraham Accords.
"We share a border with Israel, and it occupies the Golan Heights. We will not engage in direct negotiations now. Perhaps the American administration, under President Donald Trump, can help us reach that stage," Al-Sharaa said.
The draft arrangement, according to Israeli media, grants Israel de facto security control over southern Syria, bans Syrian aircraft from operating in the area, and prohibits the deployment of heavy weaponry.
Since Assad’s ouster in a rebel offensive led by al-Sharaa last year, Israel has occupied a formerly U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria, conducted hundreds of airstrikes, and pushed for a demilitarized zone south of Damascus. The two countries have no diplomatic relations.
During his Monday meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, al-Sharaa announced Syria’s “desire, intentions and readiness” to join the Global Coalition against the Islamic State group, which now includes 90 countries. But Damascus emphasized that it is not joining the U.S.-led military campaign against IS, known as Operation Inherent Resolve.
“The political coalition is different from Operation Inherent Resolve, which is a military operations room,” Mustafa said. “Syria is not part of the Operation Inherent Resolve that is carrying out the operations of this coalition.”
A senior U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement has been made, said after the meeting that “Syria formally confirmed that it would join the global coalition.”
The visit also focused on sanctions relief. Al-Sharaa urged a permanent repeal of the Caesar Act sanctions, which remain in place but are currently waived by Trump. The waiver was renewed Monday for another six months, though a full repeal would require congressional approval.
Despite growing engagement, Mustafa said cooperation with the U.S. remains limited. “There is coordination between the United States of America and the Syrian government at present, in some cases,” he noted.
Although the Islamic State group no longer holds territory, U.S. Central Command reports 311 IS attacks in Syria and 64 in Iraq so far this year, down from 878 and 160 respectively in 2024.
Ahead of Al-Sharaa’s visit to Washington, Syria’s transitional authorities launched what they described as a “large-scale” campaign against IS cells in Aleppo, Idlib, and the Damascus countryside.
* This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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