The initiative for a security agreement between Israel and Syria has yielded no result, while talks at various levels on security arrangements in southern Syria continue. Maariv cited a senior Israeli political source as the basis for this information.
Buffer zone dispute in southern Syria
According to Maariv, the main obstacle to the talks is the issue of withdrawal from the buffer zone. The Israeli administration is reportedly reluctant to accept a security agreement that includes withdrawal from the area and insists that any arrangement exclude such a withdrawal.
The Israeli administration assessed that the lifting of some U.S. and other countries' sanctions on Syria affected the talks. The report also claimed that Syria's desire to reach an agreement with Israel had waned.
Disarmament condition in the Gaza dossier
Talks on Gaza are continuing, but the process has not moved to the implementation stage because the International Stabilization Force has not been deployed to the area. Contacts with Morocco and Uganda are continuing.
The Israeli administration continues to insist on the disarmament of Hamas. The 15-point plan that Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly ready to give a chance to was said to be incompatible with the Israeli administration's 20-point plan.
The condition that Gaza's reconstruction be tied to the disarmament of Hamas remains in place, and no progress has therefore been made on the dossier. It was decided to establish two working groups to address disarmament and humanitarian issues, while the chair of the National Security Council is handling the dossier.