Syrian de facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa said Monday that Damascus poses no threat and is open to normalizing ties with Israel, provided a security agreement is reached and Israeli aggression ceases.
“We will not be a source of threat to anyone,” Al-Sharaa told reporters on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. He emphasized Syria's interest in de-escalation, not confrontation.
Al-Sharaa urged Washington to lift its sweeping sanctions on Syria, while making clear that Damascus seeks no military confrontation with Israel. He ruled out joining the Abraham Accords but said talks could begin on the status of the occupied Golan Heights if Israel ends its strikes and commits to de-escalation.
“We hope to reach a security agreement that reduces tensions,” Al-Sharaa said. Negotiations have reportedly reached an “advanced stage,” though Syria insists any deal must safeguard its sovereignty while addressing what Israel calls its security concerns.
Al-Sharaa's trip marks the first appearance of a Syrian leader at the General Assembly since then-president Nureddine Al-Atassi's address in 1967, ending decades of imposed isolation amid a regional realignment.
US-brokered negotiations with Israel would be modeled on the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, Al-Sharaa confirmed. But he warned that recent Israeli airstrikes on Syria’s presidential palace and defense ministry amount to a “declaration of war.”
Regional contrasts
The backdrop to Syria’s cautious diplomacy is a region on the brink. While Al-Sharaa speaks of security pacts and normalization, tensions are brewing elsewhere in the region. Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza City and its targeted strike on Hamas officials in Doha have triggered a wave of diplomatic and rhetorical backlash across Arab capitals.
Across the region, governments are recalibrating amid rising bloodshed and political fallout. In a rare warning, Egypt’s president said Israel’s intensifying assault threatens to unravel regional peace accords, as Cairo reinforced its Gaza border.
Qatar issued a stark statement that it reserves the right to respond to what it called a “cowardly” violation of its sovereignty, while Hezbollah continues to resist disarmament, citing near-daily Israeli overflights of Lebanese airspace.
In Yemen, the Ansarallah movement vowed to keep targeting Israeli-linked assets until Israel’s genocide in Gaza ends, despite Israel’s repeated bombardment of Yemeni ports, infrastructure, and civilians.
Seeking to contain the fallout and reclaim strategic initiative, Egypt has floated the idea of a joint ‘Arab NATO’-style alliance aimed at reinforcing collective regional defense.
This volatile landscape now frames Syria’s diplomatic overtures—casting uncertainty over both their viability and timing.
Peace under fire
Israel has intensified its campaign of airstrikes inside Syria, targeting military sites and border zones, under the pretext of halting arms transfers and preventing so-called “terrorist activity.”
Last month, Israeli warplanes struck the southern city of Sweida during escalating sectarian clashes between Druze communities and Bedouin factions allegedly backed by both Syrian security forces and Sunni militias.
In the aftermath, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani met Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer in London, for in indirect talks on a possible security agreement.
The history behind today’s negotiations casts a long shadow. Following the fall of the Assad regime, Israel declared the 1974 disengagement deal null, seized Mount Hermon near the Golan Heights, and deployed forces deep into the buffer zone.
Tel Aviv has since carried out hundreds of strikes across Syrian territory, frequently hitting military infrastructure and claiming to prevent weapons transfers to Damascus and allied groups.
