Damascus conditions full Israeli withdrawal from Syrian soil for signing security agreement

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Sunday that Damascus will not pursue a security agreement with Israel unless it fully withdraws from the lands it occupied after Dec. 8, 2024, Anadolu reports.

“It’s not possible to have a security agreement with Israel while it occupies parts of Syrian soil,” Shaibani said during a panel discussion at the Doha Forum in the Qatari capital.

“The map should return to what it was on Dec. 7 last year,” the Syrian minister said.

Shaibani called on Tel Aviv “to stop interfering in Syria’s internal affairs and mobilizing some segments of Syrian society to fuel division.”

After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated a 1974 agreement with Syria.

“Today, Syria is focused on itself, and we want to rebuild our country,” he said.

The minister stressed that Syria wants to have “calm relations with everyone, including Israel,” reaffirming the country’s commitment to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and to “the approach we are currently taking with Israel, mediated by the United States.”

New Syria “has proven in one year that it is more rational and more diplomatic” than the Israeli side, “which promotes itself as the only democratic system in the Middle East,” Shaibani said.

Despite the ongoing legal and economic obstacles and challenges, Shaibani hailed the successful steps taken by the Syrian people and the government over the past year, stressing that Syria has evolved from “a source of threat” to “a model of inspiration and success.”

“We are at equal distance from everyone, and we want our relations with everyone to be based on cooperation, respect, and political and economic partnership,” Shaibani said, calling on the international community to seize investment opportunities in Syria.

“We focus on one goal: rebuilding our country,” he said.

After the establishment of a new government led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa, Syria has pursued political and economic reforms while promoting social cohesion and expanding cooperation with regional and international partners.