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Syria, Israel inching closer to security deals to halt hostilities by year-end
If the deals are reached, they would be a major milestone after the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Syria will strike several security and military deals with Israel by the end of the year, with a special focus on an agreement to halt Tel Aviv’s strikes in southern Syria.
If the deals are reached, they would be a major milestone after the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
"There is progress in the talks with Israel," a ministry official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to brief the media. He added that several agreements are expected to be signed "by the end of the year."
According to the official, the agreements in question would primarily be security deals.
"Primarily, these would be security and military agreements," he said, adding that there would be a focus on "an agreement to halt (Israeli) military operations inside Syria".
Syrian foreign minister in Washington
Syrian foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani landed in Washington DC on Thursday, the first such visit from Damascus to the United States in more than 25 years.
According to Syrian State television, Shaibani landed in Washington for an official visit. News agency AFP, on the other hand, reported that the purpose of the trip was to discuss the lifting of remaining US sanctions on Syria.
The United States already lifted most sanctions it imposed on Syria during Assad's regime after an Ahmed al-Sharaa-led rebel alliance ousted him in December.
The last time a Syrian foreign minister was in the United States was in 1999, when the top diplomat at the time, Farouk al-Sharaa, held talks on peace negotiations with Israel.
The United States has been pushing Syria and Israel to reach an agreement that would halt hostilities between the two countries, technically at war since 1948.
Israel has deployed troops to a UN-patrolled buffer zone and has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria since December. The zone separates the countries' forces.
Tel Aviv and Damascus have also engaged in direct negotiations after Syria's new rulers took control of the country.
