- Political sources in Jerusalem state that a normalization agreement between Israel and Syria is still far from reach.
- A senior security official warns the political leadership that signing a security agreement with the new Syrian regime, which would include a return to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, would undermine the IDF’s freedom of action and limit Israel’s ability to defend the Golan Heights communities and the Druze population in Suweyda.
On August 23, 2025, the Syrian Foreign Ministry officially denied reports circulating in several Arab media outlets regarding the signing of a security agreement between Syria and Israel – under U.S. auspices – on September 25.
The rumors spread following a meeting in Paris last week between Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
The official Syrian news agency, SANA, reported that Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met an Israeli delegation in Paris on Tuesday, August 19, “to discuss several issues related to strengthening stability in the region and southern Syria.”
The agency noted that the talks focused on “reducing tensions, non-interference in Syria’s internal affairs, and reaching understandings that support regional stability, as well as monitoring the ceasefire in Suweyda province in southern Syria.”
According to Syrian sources, this was the second such meeting in Paris within less than a month, also attended by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack.
The main purpose of the talks was to address issues in southern Syria, including Suweyda province, where Israel seeks to ensure the continued autonomous governance of the Druze community and open a “land corridor” from Israel to Suweyda for delivering humanitarian aid to the Druze following recent massacres targeting the community.
The Paris meeting followed a discussion between Barrack and Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Druze in Israel. Sheikh Tarif presented several urgent demands:
- Establish a sustainable ceasefire in Suweyda province.
- Open a safe land corridor from Israel to Suweyda for humanitarian aid under U.S. supervision.
- Lift the siege on the Suweyda area.
- Release approximately 100 Druze hostages – mostly women and children – held by Bedouin tribes and return them to their homes in Suweyda.
The new Syrian regime portrayed the Paris meeting as a “regular” encounter, emphasizing that the parties discussed maintaining Syria’s unity and rejecting any plans to partition the country.
Senior security officials note that Abu Mohammad al-Jolani’s regime is under pressure following a large protest last week in Suweyda, where thousands of Druze demonstrators waved Israeli flags and called for autonomy or annexation to Israel.
Some protesters described the new Syrian regime as a “ISIS-like regime” and expressed willingness to enlist in the IDF.
U.S. administration sources said the Trump administration aims to promote a security agreement between Israel and Syria that would include opening a “humanitarian corridor” between Israel and Suweyda for direct aid to southern Syrian civilians.
However, the official Syrian news agency, SANA, announced that no such corridor would be established, and that humanitarian aid to Suweyda would only be delivered in coordination with state institutions in Damascus.
Senior political sources confirm that the Trump administration seeks to calm tensions in southern Syria after the recent Druze massacres and advance security dialogue between Israel and Syria.
One component of this dialogue is a potential return to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Israel and Syria.
For decades, this agreement served as the basis for managing the border between Israel and Syria, especially in the Golan Heights. It established demilitarized zones (DMZs) on both sides of the border and deployed UNDOF forces to monitor compliance, report violations, and prevent direct military confrontations.
A senior political source speculated that the Trump administration might be working to arrange a speech for al-Jolani at the upcoming UN General Assembly session, and possibly even an informal “corridor handshake” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, no such arrangement has been confirmed by any official source.
Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, Israel was forced to confront a new reality on its northern border.
The collapse of the regime created a power vacuum that could have facilitated the rise of extremist groups such as ISIS or Iranian-backed militias, posing a new security threat to Israel.
Israel acted swiftly, expanding its buffer zone in the Golan Heights and launching airstrikes to destroy Bashar Assad’s military arsenal, preventing it from falling into the hands of jihadist terror groups.
At the same time, Israel views Assad’s downfall as an opportunity to curb Iranian influence, strengthen its control along the Syrian border, and prevent the smuggling of weapons from Iran through Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
However, a senior political official stresses that in its talks with the new Syrian regime, Israel insists on protecting the Druze community in Suweyda and removing all armed forces from the Israeli border.
He warned that jihadist groups in the area aspire to attack Israeli communities in the Golan Heights and carry out massacres similar to the October 7 atrocities in southern Israel – necessitating precise military and diplomatic planning.
Israel is proceeding cautiously in negotiations with the new Damascus regime.
The senior official noted that al-Jolani does not exercise full security control over all of Syria, and that his security forces have sometimes been complicit – albeit covertly – in massacres of minorities, including the recent killings of Alawites in a coastal Syrian towns and Druze in Suweyda.
According to the official, Israel seeks a normalization agreement with Syria, but such an agreement remains a distant prospect: “Israel will not compromise its vital security interests or its sovereignty over the Golan Heights for any normalization deal with al-Jolani’s regime,” he emphasized.
A senior security source warned the political echelon that signing a security agreement with al-Jolani’s jihadist regime, which includes a return to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, would limit the IDF’s freedom of action and restrict Israel’s ability to defend Golan Heights communities and the Druze in Suweyda.
“Insofar as a jihadist regime rules Syria, it is preferable for Israel not to sign any agreement and instead maintain the current situation, in which it faces no international constraints on essential security operations,” the source concluded.
