No deal with Israel that will harm Palestinian cause: Syria

CAIRO: A Syrian diplomat says his country will never clinch an agreement with the Israeli regime that will undermine the interests of the Arab world, particularly the Palestinian cause.

The unnamed official at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said on Thursday that Damascus has pursued a principled and coherent policy throughout the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, slamming any attempts to forfeit Palestinians’ rights and expropriate their land.

“Syria stands up for its own rights and strongly opposes any concession or individual agreement, irrespective of its form and content, in this regard. Syria reiterates that it has always rejected any deal or treaty with the Israeli enemy, which harms Arabs in general, and the Palestinian cause in particular,” Syria’s official news agency SANA quoted the official as saying.

He added that previous experiences have well shown that normalization and agreements have only added to the arrogance and obstinacy of the Israeli regime, and weakened and divided Arabs in return.

“Syria’s campaign against terrorism and the fallout it has endured up until now has only cemented the country’s commitment to its principles as regards rejection of normalization and establishment of a just and comprehensive peace in accordance with the international law and UN resolutions,” the official pointed out. The remarks come as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed normalization agreements with the Tel Aviv regime last month.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed agreements with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani in a US-brokered event hosted by US President Donald Trump at the White House on September 15.

Palestinians, who seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital view the deals as a betrayal of their cause.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas protested the normalization deals with Israel, saying they will be fruitless as long as the United States and the Israeli regime do not recognize the rights of the Palestinian nation and refuse to resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees.