Location at an overview: Israel confirms dialogue via safety agreements with Syria

Despite regular attacks on Syria, the Israeli government is negotiating a safety agreement with the hostile neighboring country. “Negotiations with Syria are underway,” said a statement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. However, the demilitarization of the border region in southwestern Syria and the protection of the religious minority of the Drusen are a prerequisite for an agreement. Israel considers the Drusen as allies.

Netanyahu had already made hints about the talks a few days ago. Syrian temporary president Ahmed al-Sharaa also confirmed talks about a safety agreement. However, he emphasized that an agreement does not mean normalization with Israel. The talks have been running hidden for months, in August Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Schaibani said Syrian information with an Israeli delegation in Paris.

Rules troop presence in the border area

Specifically, the negotiations are about regulating the presence of Syrian and Israeli troops and security forces in the border area. Israel wants to prevent militias or armed Islamist groups supported in the area of ​​Iran, which are hostile to Israel.

Since the fall of Syria’s ruler Bashar al-Assad last December, the Israeli military has attacked hundreds of goals in Syria. According to its own statements, the military, among other things, destroyed arms warehouse and military equipment. “Israel’s attacks against my country continue,” said Al-Sharaa in his speech before the UN General Assembly.

Israel and Syria in war for almost 80 years

Israel and Syria have been officially in the state of war since 1948, and a peace treaty has never been concluded. The Golan heights occupied by Israel in 1967 and annexed in 1981 are a central point of dispute.

On the sidelines of the UN debate in New York, the Syrian Interim President, who will continue to be run by the US authorists due to previous connections to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS), and President Donald Trump. The Syrian news agency Sana published a photo on which the two men shake their hands.

A million refugees return to Syria

According to the UN, one million people have already returned to the civil war country nine months after the fall of long-term power holder Assad in Syria. Since the beginning of December of the previous year, 1.8 million domestic people who have been displaced in their home areas have also been returned to their home areas, it was said by the UN refugee agency UNHCR in Geneva.

According to the UNHCR, the returnees are confronted with destroyed houses, damaged infrastructure, a few jobs and an unstable security situation. UN Refugee High Commissioner Filippo Grandi asked the community of states, the private sector and Syrian abroad to provide more support for the reconstruction of the country.

“We have the rare opportunity to solve one of the largest refugee crises in the world,” said Grandi. According to UNHCR, more than seven million people are still living in Syria as an inland. And more than 4.5 million people continue to live as refugees abroad.