According to a report by the Middle East Monitor on Wednesday 17 September, 2025, in a move stirring cautious curiosity in diplomatic circles, Israel has laid out a fresh security framework for southern Syria – one that borrows heavily from the structure of its 1979 peace agreement with Egypt. The plan, which reportedly includes a detailed map outlining disarmament zones and field arrangements, would stretch from the outskirts of southwest Damascus all the way to the Israeli border.
The proposal was first reported by Axios, with additional details emerging via Israel’s Channel 12. According to their sources, a central component of the plan would be maintaining an open air corridor that connects Syria to Iran – a detail that, if accurate, could complicate regional dynamics significantly.
For now, Syria hasn’t issued a formal response.
The proposed setup mirrors the Sinai model from the Camp David Accords, which carved the peninsula into three security zones – A, B, and C – each with progressively fewer military assets the closer they got to Israel. That framework has held, more or less, for decades.
A high-level meeting is expected to take place in London this week, where Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani will sit down together once again. The talks are being brokered by US envoy Tom Barak, a key mediator in the ongoing back-channel negotiations.
This would mark the third such encounter between Dermer and al-Shibani under the mediation of the Trump administration, which has been pushing for renewed stability in the region. While sources close to the talks suggest that “some movement has occurred,” a final deal remains elusive. Negotiators are said to be proceeding with guarded optimism – but they’re also bracing for setbacks.
The ultimate goal is to replace the 1974 disengagement agreement, a Cold War-era relic that lost relevance years ago. After the Assad regime’s grip on power loosened and Israel moved into the buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border, that arrangement effectively crumbled.
In the meantime, tensions on the ground continue. On July 16, an Israeli airstrike hit near the entrance to Syria’s General Staff Complex in Damascus, prompting emergency services to cordon off the area and establish a security perimeter. See, More, Here>>>>
The strike underscored just how volatile the current situation remains – and how much is riding on the success or failure of the proposed security zones.
