Negotiations between Israel, Syria hit snag over demands for IDF withdrawal

Talks for a security deal on the Israeli-Syrian frontier have reportedly reached an impasse as Syria refuses to sign any agreement without a full IDF withdrawal from the 1974 buffer zone.

By World Israel News Staff

Talks between Israel and Syria aimed at securing a new security arrangement on the border have reached an impasse amid disagreements over the timing of a possible IDF withdrawal from a buffer zone seized after the fall of the Assad regime last December.

According to a report published by Israel’s national broadcaster, Kan, on Monday, the two sides have made no progress in recent days, owing to significant differences over several key issues.

Damascus has repeatedly stated it will not engage in talks with Israel for a comprehensive peace deal in the near future, limiting its diplomacy with the Jewish state to securing a new security arrangement to replace the 1974 separation of forces agreement signed after the Yom Kippur War.

At the same time, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has said publicly that his country will agree to a new security deal only if Israel commits to a full pullout from all areas seized last December – including strategically critical areas in the Golan Heights, such as the summit of Mount Hermon.

“We have gone a good distance on the way to reach an agreement. But to reach a final agreement, Israel should withdraw to their pre-Dec. 8 borders,” al-Sharaa told The Washington Post last week.

Israel, on the other hand, has signaled it will not withdraw from parts of the 1974 buffer zone in the immediate future and would only consider doing so as part of a broader deal with Syria.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday reiterated his position that the IDF will “remain at the summit of Mount Hermon and in the buffer zone.”

The talks stalled a week after al-Sharaa’s historic visit to the White House amid efforts by the Trump administration to broker a deal between Syria and Israel in the hope that a broader agreement can be reached during Trump’s second term, bringing Syria into the Abraham Accords.