From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, September 1, 2026
Syria says it wants diplomatic solution with Israel despite attacks
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani says that his country is working towards a “diplomatic solution” with Israel, with US mediation, despite ongoing Israeli strikes.
Israel has launched numerous strikes on Syria since the current Islamist authorities ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. The latest came last month, when the Israeli Air Force struck a Syrian military airport, saying Turkey was planning to deploy forces there and Damascus had ignored Jerusalem’s warnings on the matter.
Israel also sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights since 1974. Israel has carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory and has vowed to keep troops in a “security zone” in southern Syria, where it seeks a broader demilitarized area.
“The attacks are still ongoing. We observed 65 incursions in July alone, and 52 in the first 18 days of August,” Shaibani tells a press conference with his visiting Danish counterpart Lars Lokke Rasmussen.
He slams a “campaign of raids on homes in Quneitra province and the Damascus countryside,” and says Syria has registered 147 cases of Israeli troops detaining Syrians so far this year, with “49 of them still detained.”
Israel argues such operations are necessary to defend its border amid the unrest and lawlessness brought about by the regime change.
“Despite these challenges, we are still committed to the option of a diplomatic solution and we are working seriously to achieve this,” Shaibani says, adding: “We are engaged in negotiations mediated by the United States of America.”
Israel and Syria have held several rounds of direct talks, most recently last month in Jordan.
Last week Mossad chief Roman Gofman and Shaibani held a meeting to defuse tensions between the countries, Syrian state media confirmed.
After January negotiations in Paris, the sides agreed to establish an intelligence-sharing mechanism as they edge towards a security agreement.
Shaibani says that statements from Israeli officials expressing their intention to keep forces in Jabal al-Sheikh, or Mount Hermon, are “an explicit declaration on consolidating the occupation” and that they invalidate “any flimsy security pretexts.”
He says the talks aim to “stop the attacks and arrests” and secure an Israeli withdrawal to pre-December 2024 positions “with a full return to adherence to the 1974 disengagement agreement.”
Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz visited troops in southern Syria, reiterating a pledge to keep forces in the area as long as there are “threats” to the country’s security.
The Times of Israel Community.