PM Netanyahu confirms ‘progress’ in security talks with Syria but says Israel won’t give up buffer zones

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene a high-level meeting to discuss a security agreement with Syria on Sunday evening, Israeli media outlets reported.

Earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu confirmed that there was “progress” in the talks, after Syrian interim-president Ahmed al-Sharaa had said last week that a deal could be reached within days.

Channel 13 News reported that the meeting would include a discussion of the possibility of reaching a deal before the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York later this week.

The United States has reportedly been pushing for an agreement that could be announced at the UNGA

The details regarding the security arrangement between the countries are “99%” complete, a senior Trump administration official told The Times of Israel, adding that an announcement could follow within two weeks.

“We’re 99% the way there. I think in the next two weeks, we’ll have an announcement, if not at the end of the week,” the official said. “It’s really a question of timing and also the Syrians communicating it to their people.”

Ahead of a government meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu spoke about the ongoing negotiations, a subject the government has largely avoided discussing publicly.

The prime minister noted that the Israeli military's “victories in Lebanon against Hezbollah have opened a window for a possibility that couldn't have even been imagined prior to our latest operations and activity, and that is the possibility of peace with our neighbors to the North. We are holding talks with the Syrians, and there is some progress, but that vision is yet for an appointed time.”

Later on Sunday, Netanyahu released a short video responding to criticism of the negotiations and claims that Israel would be wasting the IDF’s achievements.

“Israel strengthened its grip on the Golan Heights and beyond, on the summit of Mt. Hermon,” Netanyahu said.

“We are discussing a security agreement where they demilitarize southwest Syria, and we take care of the security of our Druze allies in Jabal Druze. This is what we’re talking about.”

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani arrived in Washington on Thursday, marking the first such visit in more than 25 years.

Last week, al-Shaibani and Israel's Strategic Affairs minister, Ron Dermer, negotiated for five hours under mediation by U.S. envoy Tom Barrack, Axios reported.

A previous Axios report stated that Israel had proposed a map stipulating that most of the territory between Damascus and the Israeli border be designated as a three-tiered demilitarized zone, while Israel would withdraw from Syrian territory, except for Mount Hermon.