Israeli military chief 'tours' occupied Syrian territory amid HTS talks
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 02 July 2025 3:00 PM
The Israeli military's chief of staff has "conducted a field tour" of the occupied Syrian territory amid reports that the HTS-led administration in Damascus is in direct negotiations with Tel Aviv for normalization.
In a statement published on X on Tuesday, the Israeli military said, "Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir conducted a field tour and situation assessment today on Syrian soil."
The normalization negotiations are said to include the Syrian side's concession to Israel's permanent rule over the occupied Golan Heights, a strategic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria that has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.
The HTS, a former branch of al-Qaeda, along with other militants, seized control of Damascus on December 8, 2024, forcing President Bashar al-Assad to leave the country.
Since Assad was toppled, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes against Syria and occupied large swathes of territory beyond the Golan Heights.
The new Syrian regime has been signalling a willingness to normalize ties with Tel Aviv.
The two sides are reportedly engaged in negotiations to reach a normalization agreement by 2026.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to ease unilateral US sanctions against Syria.
The sanctions on Syria have been in place since 1979 in response to Damascus's foreign policy toward Israel.
The Israeli media outlet i24 News, citing a Syrian source with direct knowledge of the matter, reported on June 28 that the deal envisions a gradual Israeli withdrawal from all Syrian territories it seized after invading the buffer zone on the edge of the occupied Golan Heights on December 8, 2024, including the peak of Mount Hermon.
Israeli officials have openly tied any normalization of ties between Tel Aviv and Damascus to retaining strategic territories, including Mount Hermon.
In June, Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said the regime "will not withdraw from the Syrian [Mount] Hermon (Jabal al-Sheikh)."
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
