SANA Promotes Normalization: Direct Negotiations Between Damascus and the Occupation Entity Under U.S. Mediation
The official Syrian Arab News Agency avoids the term “Israeli enemy,” referring instead to the “Israeli side,” in a move that sparked widespread controversy.
NYN | Reports and Analyses
The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) revealed that direct negotiations are taking place between the ruling regime in Damascus and the Israeli enemy entity, under U.S. mediation and coordination—an unprecedented development that has triggered a wave of criticism and raised questions about the direction of Syria’s official policy.
Direct Meetings and a Controversial Description
The state news agency referred to the occupation entity as the “Israeli side,” noting that the Syrian regime’s foreign minister and head of intelligence met with an Israeli delegation as part of a direct negotiating track—an unprecedented step that contradicts the traditional rhetoric long adopted by Damascus.
Talk of “Resuming” Negotiations
SANA claimed that what is underway constitutes a “resumption of negotiations,” alluding to previous rounds, and asserted that this step comes within what it described as “Syria’s steadfast commitment to restoring its non-negotiable national rights.”
Stark Contradiction With the Reality on the Ground
This discourse comes at a time when the Israeli occupation entity continues its daily violations of Syrian sovereignty, including repeated airstrikes, ground incursions into Syrian villages, searches of civilians and home raids, culminating in the deployment of its forces on Mount Hermon overlooking the capital, Damascus, and their advance toward the city’s outskirts.
Criticism of a Veiled Normalization Discourse
Observers consider the language used by SANA to amount to indirect promotion of a normalization track that contradicts the scale of ongoing Israeli attacks, raising serious questions about the viability of negotiations amid continued aggression and the imposition of facts on the ground by force.
