Syria Is Not Ready To Negotiate Relations With Israel

Syria's condition after the overthrow of the Assad/SPECIAL DOC regime

JAKARTA - The Syrian government is not ready to negotiate until the Israeli side meets the 1974 release agreement requirements, Syrian TV channel Al-Ikhbara reported.

The government said it was too early to talk about normalizing relations between Syria and Israel, the Syrian television channel said.

Earlier, a number of regional and international media, citing their own sources, reported Syria was ready to sign an agreement with Israel on the normalization of relations in the coming months.

Reported by ANTARA from Sputnik/RIA Novosti-OANA, a source in the government in Damascus emphasized that the statement regarding the signing of a peace agreement with Israeli representatives at this stage was still too early.

Last week, Israel's head of foreign affairs Gideon Saar said his party was interested in normalizing relations with Syria and Lebanon, provided national security interests were protected.

Saar also stressed that the Golan Heights would remain under Israeli sovereignty under any agreement.

Earlier in December 2024, after a change of power in Syria, Israeli authority leader Benjamin Netanyahu declared the release agreement with Syria in the Golan Heights, which was reached shortly after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, no longer in effect.

According to the Israeli side, this was because Syrian soldiers had left their positions.

Netanyahu stressed that together with the defense minister and with full support from the cabinet, he had ordered the Israeli armed forces (IDF) to occupy the release zone.

The Golan Heights was part of Syria until 1967. During the Six Day War, Israeli forces occupied the region, and after the Yom Kippur War (1973), both sides agreed to a ceasefire and withdraw troops.

Meanwhile, in 1974, the UN peacekeeping post began to appear in the Golan Heights.