Washington – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa has opened a direct channel of communication with Israel, providing what he described as a genuine opportunity for peace.
Speaking alongside U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, Netanyahu said: “I think that everyone understands that the situation is changed. Before that, Iran was essentially running Syria. Iran is out of the picture, so I think that this presents opportunities for stability, for security, and eventually for peace.” And.”
Netanyahu stressed that the Stability and peace are now possible because President Al-Sharaa opened this communication channel. “I think that that’s been opened up also by the fact that the president has opened up a channel,” He added.
For his part, U.S. President Donald Trump revealed that Netanyahu had asked for sanctions on Syria to be lifted. “At the request of many in the Middle East, including Netanyahu, we have lifted the sanctions on Syria,” Trump said.
Read also: From Sanctions to Normalization: Will Al-Sharaa Sacrifice the Golan for Peace?
Trump also disclosed that he met Syria’s new leader, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, saying he was impressed: “Someone told me he comes from a tough background. I said, well, that’s not surprising – it’s a tough region – but I really liked him.”
He added that lifting the sanctions would “give Syrians a chance they never had while the sanctions were in place.”
On Monday, U.S. envoy to Syria Thomas Barak confirmed that dialogue between the Syrian government and Israel has already begun. Speaking at a press conference in Beirut, Barak said the Syrian government is now “opening a dialogue with Israel,” according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, the United States announced on Monday that it has officially removed Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – an Islamist group and former Al-Qaeda affiliate led by Syria’s current president Ahmad Al-Sharaa, which played a key role in toppling Assad – from its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
The State Department said the decision was made in consultation with the U.S. Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury and will take effect Tuesday, according to the Federal Register.
