Скачать или смотреть Syria's leader says Israel is fighting 'ghosts' after the Gaza war

(6 Dec 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Doha, Qatar - 6 December 2025
++QUALITY AS INCOMING++
1. Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa walking on the stage, people talking photos
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmad al-Sharaa, Syria’s interim president:
“Israel, through its management of crises in the region, always exports its problems to other countries and tries to escape from the horrific massacres it committed in Gaza. It attempts to export crises elsewhere. Israel has turned into a state that behaves as if it is fighting ghosts, justifying everything with security fears and instability, and using October 7 as the measure for everything happening around it.”
3. Wide of conference hall
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmad al-Sharaa, Syria’s interim president:
“There are negotiations currently underway, and the United States is involved with us in these talks. All countries support an Israeli withdrawal to the situation before December 8, along with addressing the legitimate security concerns (between brackets) so that both parties can emerge in a state of safety."
5. Al-Sharaa leaving
STORYLINE:
Syria’s interim president on Saturday accused Israel of fighting “ghosts” and searching for enemies following the war in Gaza.

President Ahmad al-Sharaa told an international conference that since he took power a year ago, he has been sending “positive messages regarding regional peace and stability.”

He said Israel has rejected his overtures, “extrapolating” its conflict with Hamas and justifying what he called aggression in the name of security.

“Israel, through its management of crises in the region, always exports its problems to other countries and tries to escape from the horrific massacres it committed in Gaza,” he told the Doha Forum.

Al-Sharaa, who was once detained by the U.S. for joining al-Qaida in Iraq, called on Israel to withdraw its forces from his country and to recommit to a 1974 truce agreement.

He called on the international community to put pressure on Israel and expressed hope a formula could be reached to meet “reasonable” security demands.

“There are currently negotiations, and the United States is participating and engaged in those negotiations,” he said.

Since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in December 2024, Israel has held a slice of southern Syria that was previously a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone under a 1974 disengagement agreement.

Israel says it seized the 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) demilitarized buffer zone in southern Syria in a pre-emptive move to prevent militants from moving into the area after Islamist insurgents toppled Assad.

Israeli troops have regularly carried out operations in villages and towns inside and outside the zone, including raids snatching people it says are suspected militants.

At least 13 people were killed in an Israeli operation against suspected militants last month.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump said he was satisfied with al-Sharaa's performance, and urged Israel not to “interfere” in Syria's affairs.

“It is very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria, and that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria’s evolution into a prosperous State,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Israel has also launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian military sites and pushed for a demilitarized zone south of Damascus.

===========================================================


Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...