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In a statement that casts a shadow over tentative diplomatic overtures, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority declared on Monday that negotiations with syria/" class="auto-internal-link">syria have reached an impasse. The talks, mediated by international actors seeking a security agreement between the Israeli occupation and Syria’s emergent administration, were predicated on the foundational disengagement accord of 1974. as per the Authority, the talks have stalled due to sharp disagreements over Israel’s withdrawal from southern syrian/" class="auto-internal-link">syrian territories, which occupation troops entered on 8 December 2024 amid the political upheaval following the collapse of the Assad regime. Notably, the Authority further indicated that Israel is not inclined to settle for a mere “security agreement” with Syria. Rather, it seeks a comprehensive peace treaty, offering withdrawal from the occupied territories only upon the conclusion of such a broader accord.
Israel has categorically rejected leader Ahmed al-Sharaa’s call for an unconditional withdrawal from the areas seized in the aftermath of Assad’s fall. Mounting Israeli Concerns In a development that has provoked concern within Israeli political circles, the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth recently declared growing fears that U. S. leader Donald Trump might pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to relinquish control of Mount Hermon, particularly in light of al-Sharaa’s landmark visit to the White House. The newspaper detailed the steady progress of Israeli bulldozers advancing towards the 2,800-metre summit of Mount Hermon, located within Syrian territory, where fortification and maintenance work is underway in preparation for the approaching winter.
While Israeli armed forces authorities maintain that the winter deployment does not signal any forthcoming withdrawal, Washington and damascus may now hold a divergent outlook following the Syrian president’s meeting with Trump earlier this month. No Normalisation with the Occupation In a candid interview with Fox News, President al-Sharaa ruled out the prospect of direct negotiations with Israel in the near term. He asserted that Syria’s circumstances is fundamentally different from those of the states party to the Abraham Accords, owing to Israel’s persisted occupation of Syrian land since 1967. Al-Sharaa suggested that the United States could eventually serve as a mediator within the Abraham Accords framework, though such a prospect remains distant and speculative.
U. S. envoy to Syria, Thomas Barrack, rejected claims that the security talks had collapsed, stating, “It is untrue that the security accord faltered in its eleventh hour. ” Since the Assad regime’s collapse on 8 December 2024, Israeli troops have pushed deeper into Syrian territory, committing near-daily violations along…