President Sharaa says Israel’s push to demilitarize southern Syria puts country at risk

Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa said on Saturday that Israel’s insistence on establishing a demilitarized zone in southern Syria is putting the country in a “dangerous position.”

Syria has always emphasized the importance of respecting the disengagement agreement reached with Israel in 1974, which Sharaa described as “a fruitful agreement.” He warned that “seeking other agreements, such as the creation of a demilitarized zone … would put us in a serious and dangerous position,” speaking at the Doha Forum.

The Syrian president also highlighted that “the new regime is not like the old one” and that his government “is working to hold accountable those who committed acts that we condemn,” according to our correspondent on the ground, Laure-Maïssa Farjallah.

Sharaa's remarks come nearly a year after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, as Syria faces a new wave of intercommunal violence. “Yes, there were atrocities on the coast and in the south. We do not accept what happened. But the law prevails in Syria. We are strengthening the rule of law and the role of institutions,” he said.

He further stated that he “does not agree with the claim that all Alawites supported the regime. In fact, they were all victims.”

Finally, Ahmed al-Sharaa noted that “public services have improved in the country,” that the Syrian government has attracted investments, and that it continues to urge the United States to lift the Caesar Act. “We are 95 percent of the way there,” he added.