Overview
- Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa told Al Jazeera on July 26 that Damascus is actively pursuing a multilateral security agreement with Israel that would involve other countries to help curb clashes and pave a route to broader peace.
- Al-Sharaa stressed that any deal would not require Syria to give up its sovereignty claim to the Golan Heights, which he described as non-negotiable.
- The president publicly denied plans for a military intervention in Lebanon and said Syria supports Lebanese state authority over weapons and war decisions, while Israeli reporting via Kan 11 says Syrian defense planners are quietly drafting contingency plans related to Hezbollah.
- Damascus announced a new committee to investigate people missing from the 2011–2024 war and also pressed for removal from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism as a condition for meaningful sanctions relief.
- The talks came alongside U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s call for respect for Syria’s sovereignty, a dynamic that could open diplomatic space but leave tensions high if covert military planning or Israeli responses continue.