Syria may have to pay for newfound western support by reaching an understanding with Israel, according to Lebanon's Culture Minister Ghassan Salame.
At the Arab Media Summit in Dubai on Tuesday, Mr Salame spoke of the need to support Syria where “there are entire areas destroyed” after years of civil war. The US and Europe have offered the regime a new start with a promise to lift the sanctions imposed during Bashar Al Assad's rule.
But Mr Salame alluded to whether there might be “a price tag or a cost for the western embrace”. He said: “I believe the West does not offer anything for free.”
Addressing what that cost may be, he said: “Perhaps pressure towards an understanding with Israel or something to that end." He went on to say there will be an effort “to diversify the foreign influence on Syria”, in reference to Iran's previous influence in the country.
Syria and Israel have been technically at war since 1967. The former regime of Mr Al Assad, and his father Hafez Al Assad, negotiated peace with Israel several times, without agreement. An offensive led by the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham rebel front toppled the Assad regime on December 8.
Quoting unnamed sources, Reuters reported on Tuesday that the two sides have held direct talks in the region of Quneitra, where there is a demilitarised zone.
Mr Salame said that Syria is “in the early stages of transformation”, pointing out that its regional allies have shifted from Russia and Iran to Turkey and Arab Gulf states.
On May 14, President Donald Trump met Syrian leader Ahmad Al Shara in Riyadh after being urged to do so by Ankara and Saudi Arabia and asked him to join the Abraham Accords. In 1973, Syria launched a failed effort to regain the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied in 1967 and annexed in 1981.
Mr Trump also decided sanctions on the Syrian economy are to be lifted. This contributed to a similar move by the EU. Officials said that the moves were prompted by fears that the pressure on livelihoods could lead to another civil war and a revival of ISIS.
Although Mr Al Shara is a former ally of Al Qaeda, many see him as a bulwark against more extreme elements in the country. Israel has bombed Syria since he was named leader by fellow rebels in late January, but the raids have subsided in the last several weeks.
Mr Al Shara said this month that Syria is engaged in “indirect talks through mediators” with Israel “to calm down the situation so that it does not get out of control″.
There was no information about the participants in the talks, except that they reportedly included Ahmad Al Dalati, a former rebel whom Mr Al Shara appointed this month as governor of the mostly Druze province of Suweida in south Syria.
The Druze minority is also present in Israel. Last month, military intervention by Israel halted an onslaught by HTS-allied militias on the Druze minority.
