Sharaa rules out normalisation with Israel despite security talks

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has ruled out joining the controversial Abraham Accords, which normalised ties between Israel and several Arab states in 2020.

Speaking to the Saudi magazine Al-Majalla on Monday, he said that Syria’s situation was different to that of other Arab countries, with Israel still occupying the Golan Heights region, which it seized in 1967.

Sharaa said that the priority for Syria was “a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement or something similar, meaning controlling the security situation in southern Syria under international supervision.”

In 1974, the United Nations negotiated a disengagement agreement separating Syrian and Israeli forces around the occupied Golan Heights and creating a demilitarised zone.

Israel, however, violated the agreement when the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad fell in December 2024, seizing land in the demilitarised zone and launching frequent ground incursions and airstrikes on Syria.

On Tuesday, Israeli drone strikes killed eight Syrian soldiers south of Damascus, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously demanded the "demilitarisation" of the whole of southern Syria.

Sharaa said that Israel may have been surprised by the rapidity of Assad’s downfall and could have been betting on a more prolonged conflict in Syria that would protect its interests.

He suggested that Israel could still be supporting a partition of Syria. Recently, sectarian tension in the Druze majority province of Suweida spiralled into clashes, which left more than 1000 people dead.

Israel has carried out a number of airstrikes in Syria under the pretext of “protecting” the Druze.

“Any policy aiming at dividing Syria will not succeed. The Golan has been occupied since 1967, no one has recognised that occupation, and it enjoys no Arab, regional, or international support because states oppose partition—they don’t want this contagion and want to preserve unity,” Sharaa told Al-Majalla.

“In short, when Israel waves the partition card, the goal is pressure. It is unrealistic and will crash into reality. There is a large Syrian popular bloc against division,” he added.

Despite the continued Israeli attacks on Syria, negotiations between the two sides are still ongoing, with speculation that a security deal could be reached soon.

In his interview with Al-Majalla, Sharaa also discussed relations with Syria’s other neighbours, urging a “new page” in ties with Lebanon, saying it had “suffered a lot” due to the policies of the previous Assad regime, and adding that Syria had no desire to “dominate” its western neighbour.

He also praised Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani for his non-interference during the rebel offensive, which led to the fall of the Assad regime, and noted improving ties with Turkey, Gulf countries, Jordan, Europe and the US, saying that Syria was working to end its international isolation.