Israel, Syria in Talks After Assad’s Fall, Troop Moves in Golan Heights
Tel Aviv/Damascus – Tensions are shifting in the region after Islamist-led forces toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on December 8, prompting Israel to deploy troops along the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights. The zone has separated Syrian and Israeli forces since the armistice that ended the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
In recent months, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes on targets across Syria and conducted deeper incursions into the south. Syria’s new authorities, however, have so far refrained from retaliating.
Deputy President Farouk al-Sharaa told state TV channel Al-Ekhbaria that talks are now underway with Israel on a potential security agreement. He stressed that Syria had honored the 1974 disengagement deal even after Assad’s fall, despite Israel’s claims that Damascus had abandoned the accord.
“Negotiations are underway on a security agreement to return Israel to where it was before December 8,” Sharaa said.
Israel and Syria remain technically at war, with no diplomatic relations since 1948. Still, back-channel diplomacy is in motion. Last month, Syrian state media reported that Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in Paris to discuss de-escalation and unrest in Sweida province following deadly sectarian clashes. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also confirmed that Israel is engaged in talks focused on demilitarizing southern Syria.
Sharaa further revealed that during the final offensive against Assad, Syrian forces entered discreet negotiations with Russia, Assad’s longtime ally. As battles reached Hama, Syria struck an understanding with Moscow, and when fighters advanced into Homs, Russia withdrew from the conflict under that deal.
He also noted that rebel forces deliberately avoided attacking Russia’s military bases at Tartus and Hmeimim, the latter of which became Assad’s escape point when he fled to Russia. These bases remain Moscow’s only official military footholds outside the former Soviet Union.
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