Sharaa says Israeli push for buffer zone would endanger Syria

DOHA: President Ahmed al-Sharaa warned Saturday that Israel’s demand for a demilitarised zone in southern Syria would endanger his country, as Israeli forces continue to operate in the area.

Israel sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone which has separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights since 1974. Sharaa’s forces toppled Syria’s longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad’s on December 8 last year.

Israel has also carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory since then as well as carrying out bombings, and has said it wants a demilitarised zone in the country’s south.

Sharaa told the Doha Forum that Syria insists on the importance of the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel “that has held for over 50 years – in one way or another it is a successful agreement”.

Tampering with the deal, “which enjoys international consensus and the consensus of the (UN) Security Council, and seeking other agreements such as a demilitarised zone… could lead us to a dangerous place,” he said.

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The United States is involved in negotiations between Israel and Syria to address the security concerns of both sides, Sharaa said, noting international support for Syria’s demand that Israel withdrawal to its pre-December 8 positions.

“Syria is the one that is being subjected to Israeli attack… so who should be the first to request a buffer zone and a withdrawal?” he said.

US President Donald Trump, who has been pushing for a security pact between Israel and Syria, told Israel on Monday to avoid destabilising Syria and its new leadership.

The remarks came after Israeli forces late last month killed at least 13 people in an operation in southern Syria that Israel’s military said targeted the group and left six Israeli soldiers wounded.

The Syrian foreign ministry condemned the operation as a “war crime” and accused Israel of wanting to “ignite the region”.

In November, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli troops deployed in the Golan Heights buffer zone, calling their presence immensely important to their country’s security while drawing a sharp rebuke from Damascus and others in the region.