DUBAI: US-mediated talks between Syria and Israel have resumed after an interruption of several months, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported on Monday, with Damascus seeking withdrawal of Israeli troops from territory seized after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

SANA, citing a Syrian government source, said the Syrian delegation was led by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and intelligence chief Hussein al-Salama. The resumption of the talks reflects a push by Damascus to reclaim what it describes as its non-negotiable natio­nal rights, the source said.

The discussions are focused on reviving a 1974 disengagement agreement that established a UN-mo­nitored buffer zone betw­een Israel and Syria after the 1973 Middle East war, SANA said.

Israeli troops advanced deeper across the border after Assad was toppled on December 8, 2024 by rebel fighters who assumed Syria’s leadership.

Israel has also intervened in what it calls missions to protect ethnic minority Druze in southwestern Syria.

Syria is seeking an Israeli withdrawal to positions held before Assad was toppled, and wants a reciprocal security framework guaranteeing its sovereignty and preventing interference in its internal affairs.

A Syrian official told Reuters last month that talks had been stalled since October, but that Syria expected a possible shift following a December 29 meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Syrian official said Damascus considered Israel’s withdrawal from territory it took after Assad’s fall to be a “red line” and that Syria had been asked to consider a phased withdrawal by Israeli troops.

Under previous rounds of US-mediated talks in Paris and Washington, Syria has pressed for a deal similar to the 1974 disengagement accord, which separated forces and maintained a ceasefire for decades, though formal peace was never achieved.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2026