Israel-Syria negotiations ongoing: Source

Talks between Israel and Syria remain ongoing and are nearing completion a source said on Wednesday after months of diplomacy amid tension in southern Syria.

The source added that Israel had told the United States and Syria that it did not support calls for secession in Syria.

Israel, the source said, assured the US that it does not back Syrian Druze leader Hikmat al-Hijri or any other figure in Sweida.

Al-Hijri, one of the prominent Druze leader in southern Syria, had previously championed the idea of creating a separate region for his minority community amid tension with Damascus.

The tension flared after days of bloodshed in Sweida province months ago resulting from clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin, but rapidly escalated, drawing in government forces and armed groups from other parts of Syria.

Israel intervened at the time with strikes it claimed to be in support of the Druze.

The source said that the idea of creating a humanitarian corridor from Israel to Sweida is not on the table adding that the corridor will originate from Damascus under the US plan.

This comes after previous efforts to reach a security pact between Syria and Israel had reportedly hit a snag over Israel’s demand that it be allowed to open a humanitarian corridor to Sweida, four sources familiar with the talks said.

The emerging agreement resembles the 1974 accord, with minor adjustments, with a joint Israeli-Syrian-American presence at certain points, including in Mount Hermon, the source said.

Syria and Israel have been foes since Israel’s founding in 1948. A disengagement agreement in 1974 created a narrow demilitarized zone monitored by the United Nations.

The Syrian government has pledged to the US that it will not harm the Druze community and that it will provide Sweida province with the necessary supplies, jobs and salaries.

Meanwhile, the US has informed Israel that it must resolve the issue of southern Syria and its relationship with the new Syrian government before the beginning of next year, the source noted.

A joint Syrian-American-Israeli security committee will be established to monitor the developments along the border between the two countries, according to the source.