Syria's talk of peace deal with Israel 'premature'

DAMASCUS

Syrian state media reported on July 2 that statements on signing a peace deal with Israel were "premature," days after Israel said it was interested in striking a normalisation agreement with Damascus.

"Statements concerning signing a peace agreement with the Israeli occupation at this time are considered premature," state TV reported an unidentified official source as saying.

"It is not possible to talk of the possibility of negotiations over a new agreement unless the occupation fully adheres the 1974 disengagement agreement and withdraws from the areas it has penetrated," it added.

On June 30, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said his country had an "interest in adding countries, Syria and Lebanon, our neighbours, to the circle of peace and normalisation while safeguarding Israel's essential and security interests."

The statement came amid major shifts in the region's power dynamics, including the fall of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in last December and the weakening of his ally Lebanese armed group Hezbollah after its latest war with Israel.

Syria's new authorities have confirmed they held indirect talks with Israel to reduce tensions.

Since Assad's ouster, Israel has repeatedly bombed targets inside Syria while Israeli troops have entered the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone along the 1974 armistice line on the Golan Heights and carried out incursions deeper into southern Syria.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has repeatedly said Damascus does not seek conflict with its neighbours, asking the international community to pressure Israel into stopping its attacks.

Syria has said that the goal of ongoing negotiations is the reimplementation of the 1974 armistice between the two countries.

Saar insisted that the Golan Heights, much of which Israel seized in 1967 and later annexed in a move not recognised by the United Nations, "will remain part of the State of Israel" under any future peace agreement.

Control of the strategic plateau has long been a source of tension between Israel and Syria, which are technically still at war.

Israel's overture to Syria and Lebanon has sparked mixed reactions in both countries, where the idea of normalising ties has long been considered taboo.

Amid a rapidly shifting regional landscape, some Syrians have expressed a tentative openness to the prospect of normalization.

"There is no problem with conducting peace negotiations, but in a way that maintains Syria's dignity," said housewife Rania al-Fawakhiri, sitting in a cafe in Damascus.

"Of course, we are not talking about complete normalization, but conditional normalization that does not undermine our rights."

Meanwhile, Lebanese officials have vowed that state forces will be the sole bearers of arms and demanded that Israel fully withdraw its troops from Lebanon.