Syria seeks Israel diplomacy despite attacks, FM says

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Syria is pursuing a diplomatic solution with Israel through US-mediated negotiations despite ongoing Israeli attacks.

Shaibani told a press conference with visiting Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen on Tuesday that Syria had observed 65 Israeli incursions in July and 52 in the first 18 days of August.

He accused Israel of raids on homes in Quneitra province and the Damascus countryside. He said Syria had registered 147 cases of Israeli troops detaining Syrians so far this year, with 49 of them still detained.

“Despite these challenges, we are still committed to the option of a diplomatic solution and we are working seriously to achieve this,” Shaibani said. He added that Syria was engaged in negotiations mediated by the United States.

Shaibani said the talks aim to stop attacks and arrests and secure an Israeli withdrawal to positions held before December 2024, with a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on Syria since Islamist authorities ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Israel also sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights since 1974.

Israel has carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory and has vowed to keep troops in what it calls a security zone in southern Syria, where it seeks a broader demilitarised area.

Israel and Syria have held several rounds of direct talks, most recently last month in Jordan after fresh Israeli strikes, including one on a disused airbase in northwest Syria.

Last week, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz visited troops in southern Syria and repeated a pledge to keep forces in the area as long as there were threats to Israel's security.