Israel says 'interested' in normalizing ties with Lebanon, Syria
Israel said Monday it is "interested" in striking peace agreements with neighboring Lebanon and Syria, a potentially historic shift in the region after decades of war and animosity.
With Syria under new leadership after the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement weakened, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told journalists his government wanted more normalization agreements with Arab countries.
"Israel is interested in expanding the Abraham Accords circle of peace and normalization," Saar said of the U.S.-brokered deals that Israel signed with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco in 2020, during U.S. President Donald Trump's first term.
"We have an interest in adding countries such as Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors -- to the circle of peace and normalization while safeguarding Israel's essential and security interests," Saar told a news conference in Jerusalem alongside his Austrian counterpart Beate Meinl-Reisinger.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel's recent "victory" in a 12-day war against Iran "opens the path to dramatically enlarge the peace accords."
- Golan Heights tensions -
Control of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has long been a source of tension between Israel and Syria, which are technically still at war.
Saar insisted that the strategic plateau, which Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and later annexed in a move not recognized by the United Nations, "will remain part of the State of Israel" under any future peace agreement.
Following Assad's overthrow in December, Israel moved forces into the U.N.-patrolled demilitarized zone in the Golan, and has carried out hundreds of strikes against military targets in Syria.
In Lebanon, the clout of Hezbollah has diminished after it had emerged bruised from a conflict with Israel last year, fueled by Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.
Israel, however, has kept up strikes against Hezbollah despite a November ceasefire.
There was no immediate response from Lebanese or Syrian officials to Saar's remarks.
- U.S. peace call -
U.S. officials say the end of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran with a ceasefire on June 24 has raised prospects for broader peace efforts in the region.
On Sunday, a senior U.S. diplomat called for peace agreements by Israel with Syria and Lebanon in the wake of the Iran-Israel ceasefire and expected there would be discussions about it.
Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey who is also a special envoy to Syria, said Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa "has indicated that he doesn't hate Israel and that he wants peace on that border," Barrack told Turkish news agency Anadolu.
"I think that will also happen with Lebanon. It's a necessity to have an agreement with Israel," he added.
Pressure has risen on the Israeli government to end its offensive in the Gaza Strip, prompted by Hamas' deadly attack in October 2023.
"Everybody is starting to move back towards the Abraham Accords, especially as the Gaza situation dissipates," Barrack said.
"What just happened between Israel and Iran is an opportunity for all of us to say: 'Time out. Let's create a new road,'" he added.
"The Middle East is ready to have a new dialogue, people are tired of the same old story."
Source: Agence France Presse
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