Ongoing security talks between Israel and Syria don’t appear to have reached any deal so far, though the Israelis have reportedly proposed a new security deal to replace the 1974 disengagement pact, which Israeli forces violated with an invasion in December.
The new proposal, perhaps unsurprisingly, is a laundry list of Israeli wants and gives the Syrian government relatively little. The proposal would stretch replace the old demilitarized zone, which Israel has more or less entirely occupied in the past 9 months, with a new zone deeper into Syria. It includes full demilitarization another 2 kilometers into Syria, and varying degrees to limits on Syrian military assets elsewhere, all the way to the capital of Damascus. In much of the area, reports are that Israel would allow Syria to position police, but not military.
In return, Israel would withdraw from some, but not all, of the territory they’ve occupied since December. Reportedly they insist to keep Mount Hermon, along the Syria-Lebanon border.
Israel Katz meets with Israeli troops atop the summit of Mount Hermon, Syria, on January 28, 2025. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
On top of that, Israel is demanding a “no-fly zone” from Damascus south to the Israeli border, though only for Syrian planes. Israel insists that not only would their planes be allowed in that no-fly zone, they also want Syria to guarantee them a full corridor through Syrian airspace to allow Israeli warplanes to travel through Syria to attack Iran.
The proposal is being termed a “maximalist” one from Israel, suggesting they don’t really expect Syria to agree. It might not even get to serious discussion anyhow, as reports from Israeli security officials are that the talks have already more or less stalled and that despite US pressure, progress doesn’t seem realistic.
It’s not hard to see why that would be, as Israel has been continuing to encroach deeper into Syria as the talks continue, and are also bankrolling Druze militias gearing up for a fight in Suwayda.
Human Rights Watch has also released a report noting that Israeli forces in southwestern Syria have been committing war crimes, forcibly displacing Syrian civilians and demolishing their homes as they build new military outposts on Syrian soil.
