Israel and Syria are expected to come to several security and military agreements by the end of 2025, a Syrian ministry official told AFP on Thursday, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
"There is progress in the talks with Israel," and “by the end of the year,” the two countries are expected to sign several agreements, the official said. "Primarily, these would be security and military agreements" with a particular emphasis on "an agreement to halt (Israeli) military operations inside Syria.”
At the same time, in a Thursday interview with 103FM, Israeli Lt.-Col. (Res.) Alon Eviatar estimated that part of an agreement with Syria would include “a corridor there to fly on the way to Iran."
Eviatar’s comment comes a day after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa told reporters in Damascus that such an agreement with Israel would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity.
Security pact is 'necessary'
Still, Sharaa had said that such a pact was a “necessity” and that negotiations with Israel to reach a security agreement were ongoing and could yield results “in the coming days.”
Against this backdrop, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani is set to arrive in Washington on Thursday. He would be the first Syrian foreign minister to visit the American capital in a quarter of a century.
Seth J Frantzman and Reuters contributed to this report.