Syrian Leader: Israel Security Talks a "Necessity"

Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has stated that security talks with Israel are a "necessity" and could yield results "in the coming days." Al-Sharaa, who led the forces that overthrew former President Bashar al-Assad in December, ending the country's 13-year war, said this on Wednesday in a conversation with journalists.

Israel, in response to Assad's overthrow, had declared that the 1974 security agreement with Syria was violated, expanded the volume of Syrian territories under Israeli control, and intensified air attacks in Syria.

The US, which supports Syria's new authorities, has tried to act as a mediator in the process of reaching an agreement between Syria and Israel. Al-Sharaa stressed that the US has not put pressure on Syria to make a deal with Israel but has acted as a mediator.

The Syrian president added that a possible agreement with Israel must respect Syria's airspace, which Israel has repeatedly violated for years, as well as Syria's territorial integrity. He also noted that the United Nations must monitor any agreement.

A security agreement could lead to the signing of other agreements, al-Sharaa said, but a normalization agreement between the two countries is not currently on the agenda.

It should be recalled that Israel's last ground incursion into Syria took place in mid-September, when Israeli soldiers conducted searches in the towns of Saysun and Jamlah, southeast of Daraa. On September 17, al-Sharaa had confirmed that negotiations with Israel had begun in an attempt to restore the 1974 agreement signed after the 1973 Israel-Syria war.