In a televised interview with Syrian channel Alikhbariya, he emphasized that Syria “is holding negotiations on a security agreement with Israel to return to the 1974 (Disengagement) agreement or a similar arrangement”.
Turning to Israel’s policies, the Syrian president said that Tel Aviv “had a plan to divide Syria and drag us into a battleground with Iranians,” adding that Israel was “surprised by the (former President Bashar al-Assad) regime’s ouster.”
Sharaa said, “Israel has often sought to cover up intelligence shortcomings and security failures by flexing its military muscle and exaggerating security fears.”
“Israel considered the fall of the former regime as Syria’s withdrawal from the 1974 disengagement agreement, even though Damascus expressed its commitment from the very first moment,” he continued.
He added that Syria had reaffirmed adherence to the deal, communicated with the UN, and requested the return of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force to its previous positions.
Israel has repeatedly violated Syrian sovereignty since the fall of the Bashar Assad government through air attacks and territorial expansion, despite Damascus showing no hostile intent toward Israel.
Since 1967, Israel has occupied most of the Golan Heights, and after Assad’s ouster, it seized the Syrian buffer zone and declared the 1974 disengagement agreement collapsed.
Al-Sharaa stressed that “Syria does not want to live in a state of anxiety or tension with any country in the world. The ball is in the court of those states seeking to stir strife and unrest inside Syria.”