DAMASCUS: Syria expects to finalise security and military agreements with Israel this year, an official said on Thursday (Sep 18), in what would be a breakthrough less than a year after Bashar al-Assad’s ouster.
With the United States pushing for a settlement between the two neighbours, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani arrived in Washington to discuss talks with Israel and the possible lifting of remaining sanctions on Syria, said the foreign ministry official.
Syria and Israel remain technically at war, but opened direct negotiations after Assad was toppled by an Islamist-led coalition in December last year.
“There is progress in the talks with Israel,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to brief the media, adding that several agreements were expected to be signed “by the end of the year”.
“Primarily, these would be security and military agreements,” he told AFP, adding there would be a focus on “an agreement to halt (Israeli) military operations inside Syria”.
Since December, Israel has deployed troops in a UN-patrolled buffer zone that separates the countries’ forces and launched hundreds of strikes in Syria. Damascus has not retaliated.
Last week, President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Syria was negotiating with Israel to reach a security agreement that would see Israel leave the areas it occupied in recent months.
Syrian and Israeli officials have met on several occasions, and a diplomatic source, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said a new meeting would be held in Baku on Friday.
According to US news outlet Axios, Shaibani met with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in London on Wednesday.
The two men had previously met in August in Paris, under the auspices of the US envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack.
