Israel is interested in establishing official diplomatic ties with old foes Syria and Lebanon, but will not negotiate the fate of the Golan Heights in any peace agreement, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a press conference on Monday.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, Reuters/Christian Mang
Israel is interested in establishing official diplomatic ties with old foes Syria and Lebanon, but will not negotiate the fate of the Golan Heights in any peace agreement, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a press conference on Monday.
Relations in the region were thrown into uncertainty by more than a year of fighting between Israel and Lebanon from late 2023, in parallel to the war in Gaza, and by the overthrow of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 after capturing most of the area from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War.
In May, Reuters reported that Israel and Syria's new Islamist rulers were in direct contact and had held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region between the enemies.
U.S. President Donald Trump met Syria's president in Saudi Arabia in the same month and urged him to normalise ties with Israel, making a surprise announcement that the U.S. would lift all sanctions on the Islamist-led government.
Soon after Syria's Assad was toppled, Israeli troops moved into a demilitarised zone inside Syria, including the Syrian side of strategic Mount Hermon, which overlooks Damascus.
Reporting by Alexander Cornwell
On January 29, Ahmed al-Sharaa and more than 12 other commanders from armed factions that joined forces to overthrow Bashar al-Assad gathered in the presidential palace in Damascus in a show of unity among men who had fought each other almost as much as they’d fought Assad.
A Reuters investigation pieced together how the March 7-9 massacres of Syrian Alawites along the country’s Mediterranean coast unfolded, identifying a chain of command leading from the attackers directly to men who serve alongside Syria’s new leaders in Damascus.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday the 12-day war with Iran had created opportunities for Israel, and the first was the return of hostages held in Gaza by Palestinian militants who attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
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