Syria Seeks Security Agreement With Israel

Syria is seeking a security agreement with Israel that could pave the way for comprehensive peace between the two countries, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

Such an agreement would not compromise Syria’s claim to the Golan Heights, which Israel captured during the Six-Day War in 1967 and annexed in 1981. Damascus is also seeking the involvement of other countries to pressure Israel into adopting a more balanced policy toward Syria. “We are avoiding getting into confrontations”, Sharaa said.

The president added that his government was “not considering military interventions” in Lebanon.

Following the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israeli troops seized strategic territory in Syria, including parts of the demilitarized zone and the Syrian side of Mount Hermon. Since then, the Israeli military has carried out strikes in Syria, detained people inside the country and intervened in missions to protect the Druze minority.

The Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Sunday that Israeli shelling destroyed an electrical transformer in the village of Maariyah, cutting off power to local homes.

Sharaa’s remarks coincided with a visit to Syria by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the first trip by a UN chief to the country since 2009. Guterres called for respect for Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.

“Violations by Israel of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement are unacceptable & must stop”, he wrote on X.

Israel says its actions are intended to keep hostile forces away from its northern border and protect Syria’s Druze, after nearly 1,500 Alawites were killed by government-aligned forces in March 2025 and more than 1,000 people died in later fighting in the predominantly Druze province of Sweida.

(Reuters, bak)