'Israel's insistence on demilitarizing southern Syria puts it in danger,' Sharaa says

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

Speaking on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, the Syrian head of state said that all international actors support Damascus’s demand “to see Israel withdraw and return to the situation before Dec. 8,” the date of Bashar al-Assad’s ouster. Israel, he noted, continues military operations east of the occupied Golan, the most recent of which left 13 people dead.

Syria has long insisted on the terms of the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, which Sharaa described as “a fruitful agreement.” Seeking alternative arrangements — such as the creation of a demilitarized zone — “would put us in a serious and dangerous position,” he warned.

“Negotiations are ongoing, and the United States is engaged with us … to address legitimate security concerns and ensure that both parties find themselves in a secure situation,” he added. With a touch of irony, he continued: “It is Syria that is enduring Israeli attacks… so who should be asking first for a buffer zone and a withdrawal?”

He reiterated that all international actors support Syria’s call for “an Israeli withdrawal and a return to positions prior to Dec. 8.”

In a November interview with The Washington Post, Sharaa had already rejected the idea of a “completely demilitarized zone” in southern Syria, as proposed by Israel. “To reach a final agreement, Israel has to withdraw to the pre-Dec. 8, 2024 borders,” he said at the time.

Accusations of terrorism

The new strongman in Damascus also dismissed the longstanding accusations of “terrorism” leveled against him — charges from which he was officially cleared by the UN Security Council last month ahead of his trip to Washington.

“What is the definition of terrorism? We have heard this word for twenty-five years, but there is a lot of confusion about what a terrorist is,” he said before offering his own definition:

“Someone killing innocents — children and women — and using illegitimate means to harm populations.”

He followed with a pointed jab at Israel: “If we try to apply that description to several countries in the world, we find that, among the victims in Gaza, most are innocent,” he said, prompting enthusiastic applause from the audience.

On the Syrian side, an Israeli incursion in late November in Beit Jinn, at the extreme southern edge of Damascus governorate, ended in carnage, with 13 killed. Israel said the operation aimed to arrest three members of Jamaa Islamiya, a group allied with Hamas, though the faction denied involvement. The Israeli air force intervened after soldiers who had entered the village came under fire from residents who had surrounded them.

“We are 95 percent of the way there”

Turning to the domestic challenges still facing post-Assad Syria, Sharaa stressed that “the new regime is not like the old one” and that his government is working “to hold those who committed acts we condemn accountable,” according to our correspondent on the ground, Laure-Maïssa Farjallah.

“Yes, there have been atrocities along 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.

Two days before the first anniversary of Assad’s fall, he rejected claims that all Alawites supported the former regime. “In fact, they were all victims,” he said.

Sharaa also expressed satisfaction that “public services have improved in the country” and that his government has succeeded in “attracting investments.” He once again urged the final lifting of the Caesar Act, the package of U.S. sanctions imposed on the Assad regime since 2019, whose suspension by the U.S. Treasury remains provisional.

“We are 95% of the way there,” he concluded.