Syria says willing to return to 1974 border deal with Israel

Thomas J. Barrack Jr., U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, cautioned that this could take time because new Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa could face resistance at home.

By Charles Bybelezer, JNS

Syria’s new governing authority on Friday claimed a willingness to work with the United States to reimplement the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, which created a U.N.-monitored buffer zone separating the two countries.

After a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani expressed Damascus’s “aspiration to cooperate with the United States to return to the 1974 disengagement agreement.”

Rubio released a statement saying the two men discussed “matters of shared concern, including countering terrorism, Iran, Israel-Syria relations and destroying any remnants of the Assad regime’s chemical weapons program.”

Thomas J. Barrack Jr., U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, told The New York Times on Thursday that Israel and Syria were engaged in “meaningful” talks to restore calm to their shared border area.

However, Barrack cautioned that this could take time because new Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani—a former Al-Qaeda terrorist—could face resistance at home.

“He cannot be seen by his own people as being forced or coerced into the Abraham Accords,” said Barrack, referring to the agreements that normalized Israel’s relations with four Arab countries: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

“So, he has to work slowly,” Barrack said of al-Sharaa.

On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that Jerusalem is committed to expanding the Abraham Accords and is “interested in adding countries such as Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors, to the circle of peace and normalization.”

Sa’ar also reaffirmed the Jewish state’s positions, emphasizing that “Israel applied its law to the Golan Heights over 40 years ago.

“In any peace agreement—the Golan will remain part of the State of Israel,” he said.

Also on Monday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously renewed the mandate for the peacekeeping mission along the Israel-Syria border.

The 15-member council approved a six-month extension for the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which was established in conjunction with the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement between Israel and Syria, forged in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War.

Following the overthrow of the Bashar Assad regime in December by Sunni jihadists, Israel took control of portions of the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.

The move was aimed at creating a security buffer to protect Israeli communities from hostile elements operating in the power vacuum.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir conducted a field tour and situational assessment in Syria on Tuesday, stressing the importance of readiness, particularly in the Golan, which he described as a “forward defense zone” for Israel.

“We must maintain a high level of alertness and keep our eyes open at all times … carrying out proactive operations to prevent threats. We will strike wherever necessary against any real or emerging danger. We continue to target terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah,” Zamir said.

The next day, the IDF announced that troops had apprehended members of an Iranian-backed terrorist cell during an overnight operation in southern Syria.

On Sunday, the military said that soldiers operating in the same region had arrested several suspected terrorists during raids on weapons caches.

According to the IDF, soldiers from the 210th “Bashan” Division are actively deployed in southern Syria, with the mission of neutralizing any threat to Israeli citizens.

The division’s area of operations extends from the summit of Mount Hermon—referred to as its “crown”—down to the tripoint border where Syria, Jordan and Israel meet.

During a visit to the Syrian Hermon in January, Defense Minister Israel Katz declared: “The IDF will remain at the summit of the Hermon and the security zone indefinitely to ensure the security of the communities of the Golan Heights and the north, as well as all the residents of Israel.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that he will not permit forces loyal to Syrian leader al-Sharaa to deploy in the area south of Damascus.

On June 3, Syrian terrorists fired two rockets at the Israeli side of the Golan Heights. Both projectiles hit open areas, causing no injuries or damage.

In response, Katz stated that Jerusalem views al-Sharaa as “directly responsible for any threat and firing toward the State of Israel,” and warned that a “full response will come soon.”