Golan’s status not discussed in talks with Israel, main concern is pullout from buffer zone, Syrian official says

Syria has not brought up the issue of the Golan Heights in negotiations with Israel, with its main concern being the withdrawal of IDF troops from the buffer zone created in the south of the country, after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, a Syrian official tells the Kan public broadcaster.

The official says that “the contact between Israel and Syria could be very meaningful,” and that the current government in Damascus is opposed to Iran and its proxy terror groups, Hezbollah and Hamas.”

“The issue of the Golan hasn’t even come up yet in the discussions. It is still early. But the Americans are a key factor here,” the official says.

The Assad regime had demanded that Israel withdraw from the Golan Heights, which it conquered in 1967 and then annexed in 1981, in exchange for a potential peace with the Jewish state.

The buffer zone, however, refers to a UN-patrolled buffer zone that was intended to keep Israeli and Syrian forces apart, which Israel took control of after forces loyal to Assad’s government abandoned their positions before rebel groups reached Damascus in December.

The United Nations considers Israel’s takeover of the buffer zone a violation of the 1974 disengagement accord. Israel says the accord had fallen apart since one of the sides was no longer in a position to implement it.