Overview

• In New York, al‑Scharaa delivered the first Syrian presidential speech to the General Debate in nearly six decades, portraying Syria as pursuing stability and urging an end to Israeli strikes.
• Israel officially acknowledged ongoing negotiations on a security arrangement, conditioning any deal on demilitarizing southwest Syria and protecting Druze communities.
• The prospective arrangement focuses on regulating troop presence near the border and blocking Iranian‑backed or jihadist factions, as Damascus says any accord would not constitute normalization.
• A Bundestag Scientific Services analysis concluded Syrian army units, security forces and allied militias have been regularly involved in massacres and abuses, while offering no proof of top‑level orders and questioning government control.
• Cited figures point to 1,060–1,500 people killed in Latakia in March and about 1,400 in Suweida in July, with rights groups documenting executions and noting that former HTS and other fighters were integrated into state forces.