Sharia reveals negotiations with Israel to reach a security agreement.

Arabian Sea Newspaper - Special

Arab Sea_Agence France-Presse: The Syrian transitional president, Ahmed al-Shara, revealed that Damascus is conducting negotiations with Israel with the aim of the Israeli state withdrawing from areas it occupied in the Golan after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in December, stressing the new authorities' adherence to previous agreements despite the existing tension. It is worth mentioning that, with the ouster of Assad by an alliance of armed Islamist factions on December 8, 2024, after a civil war that lasted more than 13 years, Israeli forces advanced to the demilitarized zone in the Golan, which was established under the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. Israel also carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syrian military sites, saying its goal was to prevent the new authorities from acquiring the arsenal of the former Syrian army and the spread of "terrorist" activities in this strategic region. Al-Shara confirmed in an interview with the Syrian Al-Ikhbariya channel, "We are now in the process of negotiations and discussion." He added, "With the fall of the regime, Israel considered that Syria had withdrawn from this agreement," referring to the Disengagement Agreement, "even though Syria, from the first moment, expressed its commitment" to it. He continued, "Negotiations are now underway on the security agreement so that Israel returns to what it was before December 8." Israel and Syria do not have diplomatic relations, and the two countries have officially been at war since 1948. Last month, Syrian official media reported that Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in Paris to discuss containing the escalation and the situation in Sweida, which is predominantly Druze, after the bloody violence witnessed in the governorate. Also last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that Israel is engaged in "discussions" to establish a demilitarized zone in southern Syria. In the interview, al-Shara revealed that Syrian forces engaged in secret negotiations with Assad's ally Russia during the offensive that ousted the latter. Al-Shara said, "When we reached Hama in the battle of liberation, negotiations took place between us and Russia." He continued, "When we reached Homs, "the Russians moved away from the battle at that time, within an agreement that took place between us and them." Al-Shara pointed out that his forces avoided attacking the Russian air base in Hmeimim. Russia seeks to ensure the future of its two naval bases in Tartus and its air base in Hmeimim, which are its only two military sites outside the former Soviet Union, under the new authorities. Assad used Hmeimim base to flee Syria.