Al-Sharaa calls for Syrians to unite in landmark UNGA visit, amid controversial Israel deal

Syria’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has met with members of the Syrian community in the US, reiterating calls for Syrians to remain united despite differences on the future of the country.

Sharaa said that the government faces an array of challenges since the fall of the Assad regime in December, and that he hopes Syria will thrive again.

"The importance of their role (Syrians) in conveying the true image of the Syrian Arab Republic", is vital, he said, and expressed his "gratitude for their sincere efforts in serving their homeland".

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also raised the country’s flag over the Washington embassy over the weekend.

Al-Sharaa is set to address the UN General Assembly, the first time Syrian president to do so since 1967.

He is leading an official delegation that includes several ministers and senior officials for high-level meetings with world leaders and members of the Syrian diaspora.

According to local media, preparations are also underway to facilitate a meeting between al-Sharaa and Norway’s prime minister on the sidelines of the UN meetings.

Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Bart Eide visited Syria on 19 January, where he met with al-Sharaa and expressed his support for political change in the country. The pair also met on the sidelines of the Oslo Peace Conference in June, where they discussed several matters.

Sources told Syria TV that the meeting will take place later on Monday in New York and comes after both countries have seen a warming of relations following the fall of Assad.

Syria has been grappling to deal with a host of issues in recent months, from the economy to a bout of violence in Suweida, along with repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territory.

Syria has previously accused Israel of violating the 1974 Disengagement Agreement following the 1973 war.

Despite this, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that there has been progress on a security deal with Syria, but an agreement is not imminent.

In comments made at the outset of a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that weakening Hezbollah had opened the prospect of peace with Syria, although most Syrians appear opposed to such a deal.

"We are holding talks with the Syrians, there is some progress, but there was still a ways to go," he said. "In any case these discussions, as well as the contacts with Lebanon, would not have been possible without our decisive victories on the northern front and others."

This comes after al-Sharaa said last week that Syria is engaged in ongoing negotiations with Israel to reach a security pact, which could come into fruition "in the coming days".

He called it a "necessity" and that any agreement would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity, while also being monitored by the UN.

The agreement would also force Israel to stop its strikes on the country and withdraw troops from the south.