Syria Announces Resumption of Negotiations with Israel: "Focused on Reactivating the Disengagement Agreement"

SadaNews - Syria confirmed today, Monday, the resumption of its direct talks with Israel in the French capital, Paris, aimed at reaching a security agreement between the two parties, with the coordination and mediation of the United States.

A government source in Damascus noted that "the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic, headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Assad Hassan Al-Shehbani, and the head of the General Intelligence Directorate, Hussein Al-Salamah, is currently meeting with the Israeli side in this round of negotiations, under the coordination and mediation of the United States."

The source added that "the resumption of these negotiations comes as a confirmation of Syria's firm commitment to restoring its non-negotiable national rights."

The Syrian government source pointed out that "discussions are primarily focused on reactivating the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, ensuring the withdrawal of Israeli forces to positions before December 8, 2024, within the framework of a balanced security agreement that places complete Syrian sovereignty above all considerations and guarantees the prevention of any form of interference in Syrian internal affairs"; according to what was reported by the Syrian News Agency "SANA."

According to the government source, the Syrian delegation is headed by Al-Shehbani and the head of intelligence after Israel changed its negotiating delegation.

The new round of talks is expected to last for two days and will witness the participation of the U.S. envoy to Syria, Thomas Barak, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed a new negotiating team headed by Israel's ambassador to Washington, Yair Lapid, who is close to Netanyahu; it is also expected that the military secretary of the latter, Roman Gofman, a candidate for the presidency of the Mossad, and the acting head of the Israeli National Security Council, Gil Reich, will participate in the talks.

This comes after Israel and Syria held four rounds of negotiations in recent months, mediated by the U.S., in an attempt to reach a security agreement that was supposed to include "disarming southern Syria and Israel's withdrawal from the areas it occupied after the fall of the Assad regime."

The negotiations reached a deadlock about two months ago due to disagreements between the two sides and the resignation of the head of the Israeli negotiating team, Ron Dermer, who is close to Netanyahu.

On an almost daily basis, Israeli forces are penetrating Syrian territory, particularly in the Quneitra countryside, detaining many locals, setting up checkpoints to inspect pedestrians, and investigating them, in addition to destroying crops.

Although the Syrian government does not pose a threat to Tel Aviv, the Israeli army is carrying out airstrikes that have killed civilians and destroyed sites, military vehicles, and weapons and ammunition belonging to the Syrian army.

Israel exploited the events surrounding the ousting of Bashar Al-Assad's regime late last year, announcing the collapse of the forces' separation agreement concluded in 1974, and occupying the Syrian buffer zone.

Damascus and Tel Aviv are negotiating to reach a security agreement, with Syria first demanding the return of Israeli forces to the borders before December 8, 2024, when Syrian factions ousted Bashar Al-Assad's regime after 20 years in power.

Syrians assert that the continuous Israeli violations limit their ability to restore stability and hinder government efforts to attract investments to improve economic conditions.