Israel-Syria talks said to hit snag over Israeli demand for humanitarian corridor to the Druze

By Reuters 26 September 2025, 5:41 pm

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Syrian government security forces set up a checkpoint in the town of Busra al-Hariri, east of the city of Sweida, on July 20, 2025, to prevent armed tribal fighters from advancing towards the city. (Omar Haj Kadour / AFP)

Efforts to reach a security pact between Syria and Israel have hit a last-minute snag over Israel’s demand that it be allowed to open a “humanitarian corridor” to the Druze in Syria’s southern province of Sweida, four sources familiar with the talks tell Reuters.

Syria and Israel had come close in recent weeks to agreeing on the broad outlines of a pact after months of US-brokered talks in Baku, Paris and London that accelerated in the lead-up to the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week.

The pact was intended to create a demilitarized zone that would include the province of Sweida, where sectarian violence in July killed hundreds of people from the Druze.

Israel, which has a 120,000-strong Druze minority whose men serve in the Israeli military, has said it will protect the sect and carried out military strikes in Syria under the banner of defending it.

In earlier talks in Paris, Israel asked to open a land corridor to Sweida for aid, but Syria rejected the request as a breach of its sovereignty.

Israel reintroduced the demand at a late stage in the talks, according to two Israeli officials, a Syrian source and a source in Washington briefed on the talks.

The Syrian source and the source in Washington say the renewed Israeli demand had derailed plans to announce a deal this week. The new sticking point has not been previously reported.

The State Department, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syria’s foreign ministry did not respond to questions on the contours of the deal or the sticking points.