Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shaibani (center) watches as the U.S. Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, prepares to sign an agreement in Damascus on Sept. 16, 2025. (Credit Louai Beshara/AFP.)
Negotiations between Syria and Israel are making progress and are expected to lead to “several security agreements” by the end of the year, according to Damascus. This announcement coincides with the first visit of Syria’s foreign minister to Washington.
Since a coalition of Islamist groups took power in Damascus in December, Syria and Israel — two neighboring countries technically still at war for decades — have begun a dialogue.
“There are advances in the negotiations with Israel. There will be several agreements before the end of the year, primarily military and security agreements,” an anonymous source from the Syrian Foreign Ministry told AFP.
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa recently stated that the talks aim to reach a security agreement.
The two countries primarily seek “an agreement to end military actions in Syria,” the Foreign Ministry source added.
Since Bashar al-Assad’s fall in December 2024, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on military positions in Syria.
The Israeli army has also entered the demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights, along the edge of the portion of the plateau occupied by Israel since 1967. It regularly conducts incursions and occupies positions in southern Syria.
Sharaa at the UN
A military official in Damascus told AFP on Tuesday that the Syrian army had withdrawn all heavy weapons from southern Syria, responding to Israel’s demand for a demilitarized zone near its border.
Since Sharaa came to power, several meetings between Syrian and Israeli officials have already taken place. A meeting focused on security issues is scheduled for Friday in Baku, Azerbaijan, according to an anonymous diplomat.
The U.S. strongly encourages the Syria-Israel negotiations and is hosting Syrian Foreign Minister Shaibani on his visit — the first by a Syrian foreign minister to Washington in over 25 years. The minister arrived Thursday at the U.S. capital with a delegation, according to Syrian state television.
In Washington, Shaibani is expected to discuss “talks with Israel and the lifting of U.S. sanctions,” another Foreign Ministry source said.
Since the May meeting in Riyadh between U.S. President Donald Trump and the Syrian interim president, Washington has lifted most sanctions against Syria.
According to Axios news, Shaibani met Wednesday in London with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. The two had also met in August in Paris under the auspices of the U.S. envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack.
Shaibani ’s visit precedes President Sharaa’s upcoming trip to New York, where he will attend the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly and deliver a speech.
He will be the first Syrian president to speak at the UN since Noureddine el-Atassi in 1967.
Because of his past as a former wanted jihadist,Sharaa remains subject to U.N. sanctions and travel bans and must request exemptions for any international travel.
