Syria, Israel resume U.S.-mediated security talks

U.S.-brokered talks between Syria and Israel have resumed after being paused for several months, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported on Monday. Damascus is pressing for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from territory taken after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

According to SANA, which cited a Syrian government source, the talks are being led by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani alongside intelligence chief Hussein al-Salama. The source said the renewed negotiations reflect Syria’s efforts to reclaim what it considers its non-negotiable national rights.

The discussions are centred on reviving the 1974 disengagement agreement, which created a United Nations-monitored buffer zone between Syrian and Israeli forces following the 1973 Middle East war.

Israeli troops moved further across the border after Assad was overthrown on 8 December 2024 by rebel forces that later assumed control of the country. Israel has also carried out operations it says are aimed at protecting the Druze minority in southwestern Syria.

Syria is seeking an Israeli pullback to positions held prior to Assad’s removal and is calling for a reciprocal security arrangement that would guarantee its sovereignty and prevent interference in its internal affairs.

A Syrian official told Reuters last month that the talks had been stalled since October, but said Damascus anticipated a potential shift after a meeting on 29 December between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The official said Syria regards Israel’s withdrawal from territory seized after Assad’s fall as a “red line”, adding that Damascus had been asked to consider a phased Israeli withdrawal.

“We will not legitimise an Israeli presence in Syria or in the Golan Heights,” the official said.

In previous rounds of U.S.-mediated talks in Paris and Washington, Syria pushed for an agreement modelled on the 1974 disengagement deal, which separated the two sides’ forces and maintained a ceasefire for decades, despite the absence of a formal peace agreement.

Syria’s leadership has also called for an end to Israeli air strikes and ground incursions.

Israel has said it would only agree to a deal that protects its security interests, including the demilitarisation of parts of southwestern Syria and guarantees for minority communities. It has yet to publicly commit to a full withdrawal to positions held before 2024.

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