Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shibani said today that his country was "working actively" for a diplomatic solution with Israel with the help of the US, while condemning the Israeli "invasions and attacks", reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
"The attacks continue, we recorded 65 incursions in July alone and 52 in the first 18 days of August", stressed Ash Shibani.
The Syrian foreign minister said this at a joint press conference with his Danish counterpart Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who opened the reopened Danish embassy in Damascus yesterday.
Ash Shibani said that since the beginning of the year the Israeli army "has kidnapped" During these incursions into the south of the country, 147 people were killed, "49 of whom are still being held".
The minister also condemned "statements that the occupation forces will not leave Mount Hermon", a strategic position. According to him, this shows "a desire to perpetuate the occupation".
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz was in southern Syria last week, reiterating Israel's determination to maintain forces there as long as "threats" exist against its security.
"Despite these challenges, we remain committed to the option of a diplomatic solution and are actively working to achieve it," stressed the Syrian top diplomat, emphasizing that Syria is conducting "negotiations with American mediation".
Ash Shibani met on August 23 in Jordan with the head of Mossad - Israel's foreign intelligence service, Roman Hoffman, to reduce tensions after an Israeli strike on an air base in northern Syria.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against Syria since the fall in December 2024 of President Bashar Assad, who was overthrown by an Islamist coalition. The attacks have mainly targeted military infrastructure, AFP notes.
The Israeli army has also deployed troops in the UN-monitored buffer zone on the border of the part of the Syrian plateau that Israel has occupied since 1967 and annexed in 1981.
Ash Shibani said the goal of the talks with Israel is to achieve an end to the attacks, the withdrawal of the Israeli army to its pre-December 8, 2024 positions, and "affirming Syria's sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights and our sovereign right to build our national army".