Syrian president rules out normalization deal with Israel for now

WASHINGTON

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa ruled out Monday any direct talks to normalize ties with Israel for now as US President Donald Trump seeks to jumpstart his Abraham Accords.

Sharaa pointed explicitly to Israel's continued occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights, which it significantly expanded in 2024 in the wake of the downfall of the Assad regime, saying the conditions faced by Damascus are different than those of other nations who signed on to the agreements.

"I believe that the situation in Syria is different from the situation of the countries who signed on to the Abraham Accords," he said in translated remarks made during a Fox News interview.

"Syria has borders with Israel, and Israel occupies the Golan Heights since 1967. We are not going to enter into negotiation directly right now. Maybe the United States administration with President Trump will help us reach this kind of negotiation," he added.

The Abraham Accords are US-sponsored agreements to normalize relations between Israel and several Muslim-majority countries during Trump's first term. Prior to Kazakhstan's entry last week, four nations had joined the peace agreements: Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates.

Trump has previously voiced optimism that Syria, as well as Saudi Arabia would join the normalization agreements.

Asked about Syria potentially joining the global anti-ISIS (Daesh) coalition, Sharaa said there are reasons for the US military to maintain its presence in his country but said "it needs to be with the coordination with the Syrian government right now."

"We need to discuss these matters, and we need to talk about and get into an agreement about ISIS," he added.