PARIS, Jan. 5, 2026 (Naija247news) – A senior Syrian delegation has met with Israeli representatives in Paris for a fresh round of indirect negotiations, as Israel continues military incursions and territorial expansion inside southern Syria, according to Syria’s state news agency, SANA.
The delegation is led by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani and Hussein al-Salama, Director-General of Syria’s General Intelligence Service. The talks are being coordinated and mediated by the United States, marking one of the most high-level diplomatic engagements between the two sides in years.
A Syrian government source told SANA on Monday that the resumption of negotiations underscores Damascus’ “unwavering commitment to restoring Syria’s non-negotiable national rights,” even as Israeli forces deepen their footprint beyond the occupied Golan Heights.
Focus on 1974 disengagement accord
According to the source, the talks are centred on reviving the 1974 Disengagement Agreement, which established a UN-patrolled buffer zone following the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Syria is seeking the withdrawal of Israeli forces to positions held before December 8, 2014, under what it describes as an equitable security arrangement that guarantees full Syrian sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs.
Despite the diplomatic track, Israeli military activity inside Syria has continued largely unabated. Since the fall of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Israel has expanded its occupation beyond the Golan Heights and carried out repeated air raids, ground incursions, and surveillance operations across southern Syria, particularly in Quneitra province.
Local residents have reported near-daily Israeli incursions involving arrests, checkpoints, land bulldozing, and infrastructure destruction—actions that have fuelled growing public anger and unrest.
Persistent air campaign
While direct large-scale clashes have declined, Israel has maintained an intensive aerial campaign. Over the past year, Israel has launched more than 600 air, drone, and artillery attacks across Syria—averaging almost two strikes per day—according to data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED). Several of the strikes have resulted in civilian casualties and the destruction of Syrian military facilities.
Following Assad’s ouster, Israel declared the 1974 disengagement accord void, arguing that the Syrian state’s collapse nullified the agreement. Israel has since pushed deeper into areas previously designated as buffer zones, in violation of UN arrangements that had governed the frontier for decades.
Syria has so far refrained from retaliatory military action.
Regional and U.S. signals
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in late December that Israel was interested in maintaining a peaceful border with Syria. U.S. President Donald Trump has also expressed confidence that Israel could coexist with Syria’s current president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the rapid offensive that toppled Assad in late 2024.
Negotiations on a broader security framework between Israel and Syria have reportedly been held intermittently for months, but no concrete agreement or breakthrough has been announced.
Syria does not formally recognise Israel and has repeatedly stated it has no intention of joining Trump’s Abraham Accords, under which several Arab states normalised relations with Israel.
While Washington recognises Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, the move is rejected by the overwhelming majority of the international community, keeping the territory at the centre of one of the Middle East’s most enduring disputes.
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