DAMASCUS: Syria announced on Friday its willingness to cooperate with the United States to reinstate the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, which established a UN-monitored buffer zone separating the two countries’ forces.
In a statement following a phone call with his US counterpart Marco Rubio, Asaad Al-Shaibani expressed Syria’s “aspiration to work with the United States to restore the 1974 disengagement agreement.”
Washington has been advancing diplomatic efforts towards a normalisation deal between Syria and Israel. Last week, US envoy Thomas Barrack stated that peace between the two nations is now essential.
Speaking to The New York Times, Barrack confirmed that Syria and Israel are currently engaged in “meaningful” US-mediated talks aimed at resolving their border conflict.
After the toppling of Bashar Assad’s government in December last year, Israel deployed its troops into the UN-patrolled zone separating Syrian and Israeli forces.
It has also conducted hundreds of air strikes on military targets in Syria and carried out incursions deeper into the country’s south.
Syria and Israel have technically been in a state of war since 1948.
During the 1967 war, Israel seized approximately two-thirds of the Golan Heights from Syria and later annexed the territory in 1981, a move not recognised by much of the international community.
A year after the 1973 war, the two countries reached an agreement on a disengagement line.
Under this agreement, an 80-kilometre (50-mile) United Nations-patrolled buffer zone was established to the east of the Israeli-occupied territory, separating it from the Syrian-controlled side.
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stated that Israel has an “interest” in normalising relations with Syria and neighbouring Lebanon.
He, however, added that the Golan Heights “will remain part of the State of Israel” under any future peace agreement.
Syrian state media reported on Wednesday that “statements concerning signing a peace agreement with the Israeli occupation at this time are considered premature.”
