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Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Sunday that Damascus will not pursue any security agreement with Israel unless it fully withdraws from territories it occupied after Dec. 8, 2024.
“It’s not possible to have a security agreement with Israel while it occupies parts of Syrian soil,” Shaibani said during a panel discussion at the Doha Forum in Qatar’s capital.
“The map should return to what it was on Dec. 7 last year,” he added.
Shaibani accused Tel Aviv of interfering in Syria’s internal affairs and “mobilizing some segments of Syrian society to fuel division.”
Following the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, violating a 1974 agreement with Syria.
“Today, Syria is focused on itself, and we want to rebuild our country,” Shaibani said.
He emphasized that Syria seeks “calm relations with everyone, including Israel,” reaffirming Damascus’ commitment to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and to “the approach we are currently taking with Israel, mediated by the United States.”
New Syria “has proven in one year that it is more rational and more diplomatic” than Israel, “which promotes itself as the only democratic system in the Middle East,” Shaibani said.
Despite ongoing legal and economic challenges, the minister praised the progress made by the Syrian government and its people over the past year, saying the country has transformed from “a source of threat” to “a model of inspiration and success.”
“We are at equal distance from everyone, and we want our relations with everyone to be based on cooperation, respect, and political and economic partnership,” he said. “We focus on one goal: rebuilding our country.”
Since the establishment of the new government under President Ahmad al-Sharaa, Syria has launched political and economic reforms aimed at promoting social cohesion and expanding regional and global cooperation.
On Sunday, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani on the sidelines of the 23rd Doha Forum.
The annual event, which began Saturday under the theme “Justice in Action: Beyond Promises to Progress,” brings together global leaders, including President Ahmad al-Sharaa, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, World Economic Forum President Borge Brende, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates.
Anadolu Agency is the global communications partner for the forum.
Last year’s edition, held in December 2024 under the theme “The Innovation Imperative,” welcomed over 5,000 participants and over 350 speakers.
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