Syrian rebel leader al-Jolani vows Syria will honor 1974 ceasefire agreement, says Israel doesn’t need buffer zone

Syria will continue to honor the 1974 ceasefire agreement with Israel, the nation's most powerful figure, Ahmad al-Shara (Abu Mohammed al-Jolani), told The New York Times (NYT) on Monday.

Al-Shara is the leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist rebel group that led the toppling of the Assad regime last week.

While al-Shara seems to have retired his nom de guerre of al-Jolani along with his military garb – and currently doesn’t hold an official position – he is clearly the power behind the HTS-dominated temporary government.

In an interview with the NYT published on Tuesday, al-Shara criticized Israel for capturing the demilitarized zone on the Golan Heights, created as part of the 1974 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Syria, then under the rule of Hafez al-Assad.

Addressing Israel's justification for capturing the zone, al-Shara vowed that Syria would not be used as a base to attack other countries. He asserted that it would continue to honor the terms of the agreement while urging the international community to hold Israel accountable to the same terms.

Israeli control of the buffer zone, which includes the demilitarized zone (DMZ), as well as several strategic points outside of it, is not necessary since the real threats to its security, Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies, are no longer present, al-Shara stated.

The temporary government, which set for itself a term of about three months, has already made significant progress toward gaining international recognition of its rule.

Turkey and Qatar said their embassies were about to reopen in Damascus, while France, Great Britain and Germany sent delegations to Syria to resume relations in the country.

France announced it would reopen its embassy after 13 years, while Germany is reportedly considering doing the same. In addition, al-Shara recently welcomed the United Nations Special Envoy to Syria, Geir O. Pedersen.

Speaking to NYT, al-Shara called for the sanctions placed on Syria under the Assad regime to be lifted. He said they were enacted for “the executioner,” meaning the deposed Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad, and argued that Syria now needed help rebuilding the country.

As part of the same argument, al-Shara called on the United States to lift its designation of HTS as a "terror group," as his faction was originally sent to Syria to build a local branch of ISIS, before splitting with its leader and swearing fealty to al-Qaeda.

The U.S., at that time, put a $10 million bounty on al-Shara's head. After he broke ties with al-Qaeda and fought both terror groups with his newly-created HTS group, it became one of the most effective fighting forces in the country.

When asked about his personal bounty, he replied, “That is not very important to me.”

Al-Shara also continued to welcome delegations both from inside and outside the country, indicating that so far, he is still the leader of the HTS-dominated government.

Ahmad al-Shar’a also met with Syrian Druze leaders today.

He told them “Syria must remain united and there must be a social contract between the state and sects to ensure social justice”

Jawlani first engaged the Druze community in Idlib a couple years ago. pic.twitter.com/vtfwqEAyff

— Aaron Y. Zelin (@azelin) December 16, 2024

In recent days, he published images of himself in meetings with Druze leaders, leaders of the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) militia, and with representatives of the Southern Operations Room, an alliance of southern rebels.

These meetings touched on some of the more sensitive outstanding issues for the new Syrian leadership.

In the north, the SNA is fighting the Kurdish SDF militia over control of energy-rich areas, while in the south, some Druze leaders have asked to be annexed by Israel to receive protection from the Islamist rebels.

During his meeting with Druze leaders from the southern area of Suweida, al-Shara called for unity in the country.

“The reality in the country is difficult, the scope of the destruction in the country is great. We need the efforts of all Syrians who live inside the country and outside the country. We will dismantle the armed factions in preparation for their joining the Syrian Ministry of Defense and everyone will be subject to the law."

In another statement, al-Shara referred to Syrian Kurds, whose leadership this week decided to fly the opposition flag in the areas it controls, as “our brothers.”

In comments that could be aimed at both the SNA and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), al-Jolani stated, “We will not allow the presence of armed groups outside the army and we will not allow the presence of any group that will use Syria to harm countries, like Turkey.”

Speaking to Al Jazeera, temporary Syrian Prime Minister Muhammad Al-Bashir said that the visiting delegations wanted to know where the country was heading. He responded that it wanted to see a just, free, and united Syria, with territorial integrity, and to establish a country for all its citizens.

Al-Bashir further tried to calm fears that the Islamist terror group could try to make Syria into an Islamic emirate, saying, “Those who fear a religious movement do not understand Islam, the tolerance in Islam and justice in Islam, and those who know justice in Islam do not fear anything.”