Israel's normalization appeal elicits mixed responses in Lebanon and Syria
Israel's overture this week to Syria and Lebanon for a peace deal has sparked mixed reactions in both countries, where the idea of normalizing ties has long been considered taboo.
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said his country had an "interest in adding countries, Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors, to the circle of peace and normalization while safeguarding Israel's essential and security interests".
Beirut and Damascus did not comment on Saar's words.
His statement comes amid major shifts in the region's power dynamics, including the fall of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December and the weakening of Lebanese Hezbollah after its latest war with Israel.
Syria's new Islamist authorities have confirmed they held indirect talks with Israel to reduce tensions after the Israeli army took over the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria and bombed countless Syrian army positions.
Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has repeatedly stated that Damascus does not seek conflict with its neighbors, asking the international community to pressure Israel into stopping its attacks.
He has also refrained from using his predecessor Assad's terms for Israel, like "the usurping entity" or "the Zionist enemy".
Amid a rapidly shifting regional landscape, some Syrians have expressed a tentative openness to the prospect of normalization.
"There is no problem with conducting peace negotiations, but in a way that maintains Syria's dignity," said housewife Rania al-Fawakhiri, sitting in a cafe in Damascus.
"Of course, we are not talking about complete normalization, but conditional normalization that does not undermine our rights," she added.
Syria has said that the goal of ongoing negotiations is the reimplementation of the 1974 ceasefire between the two countries.
- Golan issue -
In the same cafe, lawyer Awad al-Hamad said that Syrians would support "any peace that leads to the restoration of Syrian rights".
"We want our land, we have occupied land," he added, referring to the Golan Heights, which he said will "only ever be Arab and Syrian".
Israel occupied the Golan Heights during the 1967 war and then annexed it in 1981, in a move not recognized by the international community.
In his statement, Saar stated that the Golan Heights "will remain part of the State of Israel" under any future peace agreement.
For decades under Assad rule, Syrian school curricula presented Israel as an "enemy" and an "occupying entity", and deemed the liberation of the Golan a "national duty".
Syria and Israel have technically been in a state of war since 1948.
Under Assad, Syria repeatedly asked for the Golan Heights to be returned in exchange for peace.
Prior to the current indirect talks, no negotiations had taken place since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, which saw Iran and its proxies expand their networks in the country.
Israel's interest in normalizing comes after many of its enemies were weakened in its wars in Lebanon, Gaza and Iran.
The United States has been strongly pushing for normalization, with Syria envoy Tom Barrack saying on Sunday that Sharaa "has indicated that he doesn't hate Israel... and that he wants peace on that border".
- 'We will fight' -
Barrack also asked Lebanese officials to formally commit to fully disarming Hezbollah, one of Israel's sworn enemies.
Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah positions, despite a November ceasefire.
Lebanese officials have vowed that state forces will be the sole bearers of arms and demanded that Israel fully withdraw its troops from Lebanon.
The latest conflict with Israel began after Hezbollah launched attacks across the border in 2023 in support of its ally Hamas in Gaza, before it escalated into a full-blown war in September.
Hezbollah's areas of influence in south and east Lebanon, as well as Beirut's southern suburbs, saw heavy destruction, while the country's already crippled economy suffered heavy blows.
Walking in Beirut's Hamra street, 71-year-old Naim Qassir said that "Lebanon's wellbeing comes first, and if the only way to get that is through normalization... we could have a peace treaty to rebuild our country".
A few meters away, 46-year-old driver Ahmad Shamas said that "even if the whole world normalizes with Israel... we the owners of the land in the south, the Beqaa and Dahieh will not".
"We will fight it until the end of time."
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