Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has accused Israel of exporting crises to other countries and “fighting ghosts,” amid persistent incursions and air strikes by Israeli forces into southern Syria.
Al-Sharaa was speaking at the Doha Forum in Qatar on Saturday, in a conversation with CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour.
Syria’s interim president again demanded that the Israel agree to reinstate the 1974 deconfliction agreement that separated Syrian and Israeli forces. Israeli forces crossed into southern Syria a year ago, as the Assad regime fell, and continue to occupy the strategic heights of Mount Hermon. The summit, which overlooks Israel, Lebanon and Syria, had been in a buffer zone for the previous 50 years.
Israeli officials have said the Israel Defense Forces will remain in the places they occupied a year ago indefinitely.
Syria was adamant about respecting the 1974 agreement and would not accept an alternative buffer zone, Al-Sharaa said. “We demand Israel to go back to the pre-December 8 (2024) lines,” he said, adding that the United States was taking part in negotiations.
Attempts to revise the agreement would “send us into a serious and dangerous place,” he said.
“Who will be protecting this buffer zone or this demilitarized zone if the Syrian army or Syrian forces aren’t going to be there?” he asked.
“Syria has suffered massive violations of our airspace, and we’ve been victim of over 1,000 air strikes and over 400 incursions” since the revolution a year ago, Al-Sharaa said.
At least 13 people were killed during an Israeli military raid in southern Syria late last month.
CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour, left, speaks with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa at the Doha Forum. – Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Al-Sharaa’s rebel forces entered the Syrian capital last December, forcing then President Bashar al-Assad to flee.
Al-Sharaa repeated that his government would hold to account those involved in abuses earlier this year in Syria’s coastal zone, when hundreds of minority Alawites were killed. Many Alawites had supported the Assad regime.
Despite the atrocities committed then, Syria was a state of law, he said, and reinforcing the rule of law was the way to guarantee the rights of all minorities.
As to elections, Al-Sharaa said his current mandate would be for a further four years, while a constitution is drafted and institutions built. At that point, elections would take place, he said. An indirect parliamentary election held in October was marred by concerns about representation of women and minorities. Only a small fraction of the population was able to vote.
Al-Sharaa also told the forum that he had met members of the US Congress during a recent visit to Washington to push for the repeal of the Caesar Act, which continues to enforce some sanctions against Syria but was recently waived for a further 180 days.
“There was a great understanding, and I believe we’re at the 95% point,” he said.
The economic situation in Syria was stabilizing, he said, and it was seeing the first indications of economic growth.
“There was a great understanding, and I believe we’re at the 95% point,” he said.
The economic situation in Syria was stabilizing, he said, and it was seeing the first indications of economic growth.
There is substantial investment in Syria, mainly due to financing from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and with the growing participation of foreign energy and construction firms.
“People were receiving an hour and a half of electricity per day, and now we have reached 12 to 14 hours per day and hopefully this year we will be self-sufficient in terms of electricity,” Al-Sharaa said.
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