US envoy to UN urges Syria–Israel nonaggression pact and negotiations

Acting U.S. Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea sparked criticism this week when she called for negotiations between Syria and Israel for a nonaggression pact.

“The government should begin discussions with Israel on a non-aggression agreement and subsequently begin border dispute resolution discussions,” Shea said at a special UN Security Council session on Syria on Tuesday adding that Syria also “should take necessary steps to ban and deport Palestinian terror groups.”

An unnamed senior official from Syria’s Foreign Ministry reacted to the American demand saying that Syria is “open” to all diplomatic avenues, but that the new Syrian government is “not in a rush to take any irreversible steps, stressing that its current priority is domestic stabilization and preparing for national elections scheduled for mid-2026” according to The Media Line.

“The transitional government is open to all diplomatic initiatives, including ceasefire talks and border discussions, but only within the framework of Syrian sovereignty and international law – especially UN Resolutions 242 and 338,” the official said.

Her remarks were met with opposition from Arab actors and observers, who are particularly dissatisfied with Israel’s continued presence in southern Syria since the ousting of Bashar al-Assad in late 2024. According to The Media Line, Israel maintains “a semi-permanent presence” in the region to contain Iranian proxy militias, as well as operatives from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Critics are also opposed to Israel’s 1981 annexation of the Golan Heights – a move later recognized by the first Trump administration.

Terrorist groups predictably condemned Shea’s remarks. 

“An attempt to repackage the Zionist occupation through the gates of Damascus,” said Hamas in Gaza. 

“Any Syrian government that agrees to expel resistance factions or label them as terrorists has abandoned the principles of the [Muslim] nation – and we will treat it as an enemy,” the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said in a statement. 

Dr. Samir Al-Ali, an Istanbul-based former professor of international relations at Damascus University, said that current U.S. proposals “reflect not a genuine peace process but an effort to normalize occupation.”

“International law is clear – the Golan is occupied territory,” he said. “Pushing for a nonaggression pact while Israeli troops are deployed miles deep inside Syrian territory amounts to nothing more than coerced normalization.”

Abdel-Razzaq Idris, a Syrian commentator based in Berlin, Germany, said, “What we are witnessing is de facto occupation.”

“This is no longer just about airstrikes or intelligence operations. Israeli forces now have fixed positions inside Syria. It’s unprecedented and should be cause for condemnation, not negotiation,” he said.

Meanwhile, an Egyptian diplomatic source said that certain Gulf states have “expressed clear reservations about any normalization moves outside of Arab consensus, especially in the absence of a final resolution to the Palestinian cause.”

The source warned that “rushing into Washington and Tel Aviv’s arms could isolate Syria from its Arab surroundings once again.”

According to The Media Line, Arab states have somewhat cooled toward the new Syrian regime over its “silence over Israeli airstrikes on Iranian and Palestinian targets.”