President Ahmed al-Sharaa: Syria seeking security deal with Israel

In an exclusive interrogation with Al Jazeera, Ahmed al-Sharaa discusses determination security, Lebanon’s situation and home challenges.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has revealed that Damascus is actively moving to scope a information statement with Israel with the information of respective countries.

Speaking successful an exclusive interrogation connected Al Jazeera’s Al Muqabala programme, the afloat interview, to beryllium broadcast astatine 19:00 GMT, al-Sharaa said helium hopes the woody with Israel could service arsenic a gateway to a broad peace.

He besides assured that specified an statement would not compromise Syria’s close to the occupied Golan Heights, which Israel has illegally occupied since 1973.

He said Syria is avoiding immoderate clashes with Israel, and that a information statement could pave the mode for a broader and much broad solution to the crisis.

It comes aft repeated Israeli incursions and strikes successful confederate Syria, since al-Sharaa came to powerfulness successful December 2024 pursuing the illness of Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Lebanon’s situation and determination fears

Al-Sharaa besides confirmed that Syria has nary volition of launching immoderate subject involution into neighbouring Lebanon, contempt repeated rumours connected the issue.

Instead, his authorities is presently discussing ways for Lebanese authorities to assistance the state flooded its existent situation and steer it towards safety.

Southern Lebanon is presently being occupied by Israel, amid months of warring betwixt Hezbollah and Israeli forces. The Lebanese authorities is seeking to reclaim these occupied territories and person a monopoly connected each weapons successful the country.

Furthermore, helium declared Damascus’s steadfast enactment for restricting weapons and containing decisions of warfare and bid exclusively to the Lebanese state.

Al-Sharaa said that Syria has nary volition of intervening successful Lebanon [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]

Al-Sharaa stressed that addressing the Lebanese situation requires much than conscionable a information attack but a broad solution tackling a scope of issues.

Any descent into chaos successful Lebanon would person nonstop and contiguous repercussions connected Syria, and the imaginable enlargement of the US-Israel warfare connected Iran successful the portion would pb to a terrible determination fall-out, helium warned.

Sanctions, the SDF and missing persons

On home and economical fronts, al-Sharaa argued that simply lifting the economical sanctions imposed connected his state by the US and different countries would not beryllium effectual unless Syria was besides removed from the database of authorities sponsors of terrorism.

Addressing the interior statement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an confederation of Kurdish and Arab equipped groups that controls parts of bluish and eastbound Syria, the president acknowledged a hold successful its implementation.

However, helium affirmed that the authorities remains afloat committed to the statement and continues to stake connected its eventual success.

Al-Sharaa besides announced that Syrian authorities person established a peculiar committee to negociate the contented of radical missing during Syria’s war, betwixt 2011 and 2024.

The UN estimates that astir 100,000 radical were forcibly disappeared during the war, portion Syria’s National Commission connected Missing Persons believes arsenic galore arsenic 300,000 Syrians could beryllium missing.

Al-Sharaa said the committee volition run strictly according to planetary standards, moving successful adjacent practice with countries that person specialised expertise successful this field.