Syria says it remains opposed to ‘all agreements with Israeli enemy’

Syria affirmed Thursday that it remains staunchly opposed to any normalization agreements with Israel, hours after Lebanon announced it reached an agreement with Jerusalem to enter United Nations-mediated talks regarding dispute over land and maritime borders.

A source in the Syrian Foreign Ministry told the official SANA news agency that Syria “was and will remain against any agreements or treaties with the Israeli enemy based on its firm conviction that such agreements harm Arab causes in general, foremost among which is the Palestinian cause, which has been proven by previous experiences, that normalization and signing treaties and agreements with this enemy only increased its arrogance and obstinacy.”

This was also the country’s first official response to Israel’s recently signed agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The Gulf states agreed to recognize Israel in a historic milestone widely regarded as a major coup for the Jewish state and diplomatic win for US President Donald Trump, whose administration brokered the deals.

The two Arab states, while saying they still support a Palestinian state, share the concerns of Israel and the United States regarding neighboring Iran, a key ally of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Israel has carried out numerous airstrikes against Iranian assets in Syria, with Tehran seeking to establish a foothold in the country and thus create a land bridge with its regional proxies, such as the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah.