Syrian President demands immediate Israeli withdrawal from south

Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa urged the international community on Tuesday to pressure Israel into an “immediate” withdrawal from the south of the country, AFP reported.

Sharaa’s remarks came as he attended his first Arab summit since taking office.

Sharaa’s Islamist faction, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led the offensive that ousted longtime Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad on December 8. Following Assad’s removal, Israel deployed troops to a UN-monitored buffer zone that has separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights since 1974.

Beyond ground operations, Israeli forces have also launched a series of air strikes against Syrian military sites in recent days.

“We urge the international community to uphold its legal and moral commitments by supporting Syria’s rights and pressuring Israel to immediately withdraw from southern Syria,” Sharaa told Arab leaders gathered in Cairo, as quoted by AFP.

He further warned that Israel’s “hostile expansion is not only a violation of Syrian sovereignty, but also a direct threat to security and peace in the entire region.”

Last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel would not accept the presence of Syria’s new leadership in the south, demanding “the complete demilitarisation of southern Syria.”

Sharaa’s attendance at the Arab League summit on Gaza marked his first high-profile diplomatic engagement since the removal of Assad nearly three months ago.

Syria was previously suspended from the Arab League in 2011 following Assad’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests, which sparked the country’s devastating civil war.

However, the Arab League welcomed back Assad’s government in May of 2023, after more than a decade.

Despite being subject to international sanctions, Sharaa was granted a travel ban exemption by a UN Security Council committee, allowing him to attend the Cairo summit.

Sharaa’s HTS was once a part of Al-Nusra Front, which is Syria’s Al-Qaeda branch, and is labeled a terrorist organization by many Western governments.

Shortly after Sharaa came to power, the US decided to remove the $10 million bounty on his head, but did not lift the sanctions that have been imposed on Syria during its civil war.