Syria’s New Leader Warns of Chaos Without Security Deal With Israel

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – In a high-stakes diplomatic debut on the world stage, Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, issued a stark warning from New York on Tuesday, cautioning that the Middle East faces a new round of dangerous tumult unless Israel reaches a security agreement with his transitional government that fully preserves Syrian sovereignty.

Making a landmark visit to the United Nations General Assembly just months after his forces swept longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad from power, the former insurgent commander is navigating a treacherous landscape, attempting to stabilize a nation shattered by nearly 15 years of war while simultaneously fending off a barrage of military pressure from its historically hostile neighbor.

"There are multiple risks with Israel stalling on the negotiations and insisting on violating our airspace and incursions into our territory," al-Sharaa stated at an event hosted by the Middle East Institute, in comments carried by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

He stressed the potential for a wider conflagration, warning that any talk of partitioning Syria would not only hurt Iraq and Turkey but would "take us all back to square one."

The urgency of these negotiations was underscored by a senior U.S. envoy, who revealed that the two adversaries are on the cusp of a preliminary pact.

According to a Reuters dispatch from New York, U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack announced on Tuesday that Syria and Israel are close to striking a "de-escalation" agreement.

This initial accord, Barrack explained, would see Israel halt its attacks in exchange for Syria agreeing not to move any heavy machinery or equipment near the Israeli border, serving as a critical first step toward a more comprehensive security deal.

While U.S. President Donald Trump had hoped to announce a finalized agreement this week, Barrack told reporters the process had been slowed by the Rosh Hashana holiday, though he maintained, "I think everybody is approaching it in good faith."

This diplomatic push comes against a backdrop of intense military activity since Assad’s ouster in December. As reported by Reuters, Israel abandoned the 1974 truce that had largely held for decades on the same day the former regime fell, launching a massive military campaign as it sought to take advantage of the power vacuum.

Al-Sharaa, in his public appearances, has stated that since then, Israel has carried out more than 1,000 strikes and over 400 ground incursions, with Israeli troops pushing to within 20 kilometers of Damascus.

The new Syrian leader expressed a palpable sense of anxiety over Israel’s intentions, flipping the traditional narrative of the conflict. "We are not the ones creating problems for Israel. We are scared of Israel, not the other way around," he said, according to both AFP and Reuters.

Al-Sharaa's visit to New York has been marked by a series of remarkable and surreal encounters, none more so than his public conversation with retired four-star U.S. General David Petraeus.

As detailed in a report by Al Jazeera, the two men acknowledged the peculiarity of their shared stage at the Concordia Annual Summit.

Petraeus, who once commanded the U.S. forces in Iraq that captured and imprisoned al-Sharaa from 2006 to 2011, now praised the Syrian president's evolution, calling his trajectory "one of the most dramatic political transformations in recent Middle Eastern history" and declaring himself a "fan."

Al-Sharaa, for his part, reflected on their shared history with a smile. "At a time, we were in combat and now we move to discourse," he said, adding that "we cannot judge the past based on the rules of today." He acknowledged that in his past as an al-Qaeda commander, "maybe there were mistakes," but insisted his focus now is on defending the Syrian people.

While actively pursuing a security arrangement, al-Sharaa was careful to temper expectations regarding a more historic normalization of relations.

When asked if Syria would join the Abraham Accords, the Trump-era agreements that saw several Arab states establish ties with Israel, he demurred.

"Syria is different as those that are part of the Abraham Accords are not Israel's neighbors," he said in comments carried by both AFP and The Associated Press. "Syria has been subjected to more than 1,000 Israeli raids, strikes and incursions from the Golan Heights into Syria."

He also cited the "huge anger over what's going on in Gaza," which he said impacts Damascus's position.

The visit marks a significant easing of Syria’s profound international isolation under the Assad dynasty, which had not sent a head of state to the UN General Assembly since 1967.

According to The Associated Press, the trip was facilitated by a broader shift in U.S. policy under President Trump, who, after al-Sharaa’s takeover, erased the terrorist designation of his former group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, and eased long-standing sanctions.

This engagement was solidified in a high-level meeting on Monday between al-Sharaa and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

A State Department statement reported by the AP said the two discussed counterterrorism, efforts to locate missing Americans, and "the importance of Israel-Syria relations in achieving greater regional security."

A central theme of al-Sharaa's outreach has been an impassioned plea for the complete removal of remaining U.S. sanctions, particularly the Caesar Act of 2019. He praised President Trump for taking a "bold decision" on sanctions relief but urged Congress to go further.

"The Syrian people should not be killed another time through the sanctions," he said at the Concordia summit. "Lift the sanctions, and don’t worry about them."

The Associated Press noted that his bipartisan appeal included meetings with ranking Democrats on the foreign relations committees, Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Representative Gregory Meeks.

Confronted with questions about atrocities and sectarian violence that occurred during and after his movement's rapid offensive, al-Sharaa acknowledged that in the "major chaos" left by the Assad regime, "everyone made mistakes."

However, as reported by Al Jazeera and the AP, he stressed that his government had allowed international fact-finding teams into the country for the first time in 60 years and that a newly formed council would prosecute all violators.

"The Syrian state will work on accountability against those found guilty, even if they were the closest people to us," he pledged.

As Syria’s new leader concludes his historic week in New York, he leaves behind the image of a man attempting a delicate and precarious balancing act: seeking peace from a position of weakness, courting Western support while managing a controversial past, and trying to rebuild a sovereign nation from the ashes of a devastating war.