Israeli strikes left Syria ‘stunned’ and makes normalization ‘difficult,’ Syrian foreign minister says

By Billy Stockwell, CNN

(CNN) — Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani told CNN Israeli strikes on Syria after the fall of the Assad regime “stunned” his country making discussions about normalization “difficult.”

In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria at the Council on Foreign Relations, aired Sunday, al-Shibani criticized Israel for having “obstructed” the Syrian government when it faced a surge in sectarian violence in the south.

The Syrian minister vowed that a “strong and unified Syria would be good for regional security, and that will benefit Israel.”

The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship – a major ally of Israel’s arch-foe Iran – last December prompted a military response from Israel, which launched airstrikes at military targets across Syria and deployed ground troops both into and beyond a demilitarized buffer zone for the first time in 50 years.

Israel said the strikes were, in part, to prevent chemical weapons stocks and long-range missiles from falling “into the hands of extremists.”

But Syrian people were “stunned” by the attacks, al-Shibani said, particularly as the “militias of Iran or Hezbollah, all of these militias left with the late regime.”

“We are no threat to anyone in the region, including Israel, but these new policies of cooperation and peace were met by these threats and strikes,” al-Shibani said, responding to a question about the possibility of normalization between Syria and Israel following the military action.

“So, to talk about normalization and the Abraham Accords is a bit difficult,” he said, referring to the series of landmark agreements that established ties between Israel and three Arab nations in 2020.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the Abraham Accords have been “remarkably resilient and strong” amid the war in Gaza.

“I think you’ll see that not only are the Abraham Accords not endangered, they’ll be expanded to other countries,” Netanyahu told Fox News.

Despite the tensions, Israel says talks have been taking place with Syria that could lead to a security agreement.

Sectarian violence has flared in Syria since the fall of the Assad regime. In March, hundreds of people were killed during a crackdown on the Alawite sect – to which Assad belonged – in the western city of Latakia, and in April, clashes broke out between pro-government armed forces and Druze militias.

Further clashes erupted in July when Syrian government forces intervened following attacks between the Druze and local Bedouin tribes. That, in turn, triggered Israeli airstrikes, with Israel citing a commitment to protect the Druze.

Asked what exactly Israel did during its intervention, Al-Shibani said: “It supported outlaws – outlaw groups – and this obstructed and hindered the Syrian government from solving the problem between the Bedouins and the Druze.”

“What Israel did just complicates matters and made the Druze in a very difficult and embarrassing situation,” he added.

Syria’s leader makes UN debut

In the interview, Al-Shibani said the Syrian people welcomed moves by the United States to lift punishing sanctions on the country, which were imposed “on the late regime.”

“The position of the United States, vis a vis Syria, since the day of liberation, is a very positive position, and it actually was met by great support among Syrian people, including the lifting of sanctions,” he said.

Earlier this week, Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa made his United Nations debut, calling for the complete lifting of sanctions against his country “so that they no longer shackle the Syrian people.”

“We’ve suffered injustice and deprivation and oppression,” Al-Sharaa, a former jihadist, told diplomats in recounting the rule and fall of the Assad regime. “Then we rose in claiming our dignity.”

CNN’s Mick Krever, Max Saltman, Mostafa Salem, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Hira Humayun contributed to this report.

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