Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa has accused Israel of heightening regional tensions and fabricating external threats to distract from the “horrifying massacres” in Gaza, during an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour at the Doha Forum on Saturday.
Al-Sharaa claimed Israeli leaders frequently “export crises to other countries” under the guise of security, arguing that the state has used the October 7 attacks as justification for wider military actions. “Israel has become a country that is in a fight against ghosts,” he said.
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, Israeli air and ground operations in Syria have intensified, with hundreds reportedly killed. Last month, Israeli forces killed at least 13 people in Beit Jinn, a town in the Damascus countryside. Israel has also expanded its presence in southern Syria, setting up checkpoints and detaining Syrian citizens inside Israeli territory.
Al-Sharaa emphasized that his administration has sought to reduce tensions since he assumed office, sending “positive messages regarding regional peace and stability.” He said Syria has focused on maintaining stability and has “not been concerned with being a country that exports conflict, including to Israel.”
The Syrian president urged Israel to return to its pre-2024 positions and respect the 1974 Disengagement Accord, which established a UN-monitored buffer zone on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights following the Yom Kippur War. Al-Sharaa warned that replacing the accord with new arrangements could push the region “into a serious and dangerous place.”
“This agreement has held on for over 50 years,” he said. “Who will protect that zone? Israel often says they are afraid of coming under attack from southern Syria, so who will be protecting this buffer zone or this demilitarized zone if the Syrian army is there?”
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Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a deal with Syria was within reach, proposing a demilitarized buffer zone from Damascus to Jabal al-Sheikh. Al-Sharaa rejected the idea, asserting, “It is Syria that is being attacked by Israel and not the opposite. Therefore, who has more right to claim a buffer zone and a pullout?”
Al-Sharaa also addressed Syria’s internal cohesion, noting progress despite ongoing challenges. “I believe Syria is living through its best days. We are talking about a country that’s aware, that’s conscious,” he said, stressing that complete unanimity is unrealistic, even in stable, advanced countries.
He added that decades of division under the previous al-Assad regime left many citizens “simply not knowing each other well,” highlighting the continuing social and political challenges the nation faces.
