Syria’s leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has reportedly expressed openness to normalizing relations with Israel under certain circumstances, ending decades of acrimony between the two neighboring states. Sharaa reportedly discussed the matter with Rep. Cory Mills (R – FL) during his visit to Syria.
The exact terms of this offer weren’t made public, though Rep. Mills said that Sharaa also gave him a note to deliver to President Trump. Syria is keen to get international sanctions eased, and that is likely to be a top condition for such a move.
Syria’s ruling Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has actually raised the prospect of normalizing relations with Israel before, indeed even before they successfully took over the country in December. HTS made clear that they didn’t consider Israel an enemy and would allow them to open an embassy in Damascus, as well as in Beirut (though they have not conquered Lebanon so that’s not up to them).
Israel invaded Syria more or less immediately after HTS came to power, however, and has been expanding into growing amounts of Syria’s southwest, in addition to constantly launching strikes against targets across Syria. Presumably normalization would also be conditioned on an end to Israeli attacks and occupation of Syrian soil.
That may mean it’s a non-starter from Israel’s perspective, as Israeli officials have indicated that they view a permanent control of that part of Syria as a “vital” part of their military strategy for the region.
