DAMASCUS
Syria’s foreign ministry said Damascus and Washington were working to reach security understandings with Israel as part of a roadmap for stability announced earlier on Tuesday with US and Jordanian support for violence-hit Sweida province.
“The United States, in consultation with the Syrian government, will work to reach security understandings with Israel concerning southern Syria that address the legitimate security concerns of both Syria and Israel while emphasising Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the foreign ministry said in a statement outlining the roadmap.
Even a modest agreement would be a feat, the sources said, pointing to Israel’s tough stance during months of talks and Syria’s weakened position after sectarian bloodshed in its south inflamed calls for partition.
Intelligence sources said Syria’s proposal aims to secure the withdrawal of Israeli troops from territory seized in recent months, to reinstate a demilitarised buffer zone agreed in a 1974 truce, and to halt Israeli air strikes and ground incursions into Syria.
The sources said talks had not addressed the status of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized in a 1967 war. A Syrian source familiar with Damascus’s position said it would be left “for the future.”
The two countries have technically been at war since the creation of Israel in 1948, despite periodic armistices. Syria does not recognise the state of Israel.
After months of encroaching into the demilitarised zone, Israel abandoned the 1974 truce on Dec 8, the day a rebel offensive ousted Syria’s then-president Bashar al-Assad. It struck Syrian military assets and sent troops to within 20 kilometres of Damascus. Israel has shown reluctance during the closed-door talks to relinquish those gains, the sources said.
A State Department official said Washington “continues to support any efforts that will bring lasting stability and peace between Israel, Syria and its neighbors.” The official did not answer questions on whether the US wanted to announce a breakthrough during the General Assembly.
