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Syria and Israel had reached broad agreement on a proposed security deal earlier this year, but Damascus saw no genuine Israeli commitment to implementing it, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani has said.
“We did not see they had the real will to reach an agreement,” Shaibani told Reuters, stressing that Syria’s immediate priority was to end Israeli attacks before moving towards a broader security agreement.
“Then perhaps we can open the topics of peace and the Golan,” he said.
Under the proposed agreement, Israel would be required to halt attacks on Syria and withdraw from territory it seized following the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
The draft would also establish several security zones inside Syrian territory near the Israeli border. These would include a buffer zone where only UN personnel could be present, as well as other areas where Syrian forces could be deployed at varying levels.
Shaibani’s remarks come amid continued tensions along the Syria-Israel border and efforts to establish new security arrangements following Assad’s fall.