Syria Edges Toward Normalization with Israel as Attacks Intensify and Resistance Groups Face Crackdown
Executive Summary
Multiple sources report that Syria’s new leadership under Ahmad al-Sharaa is advancing discussions with the United States regarding normalization with Israel, including accepting key U.S. conditions and detaining members of Palestinian resistance groups. This shift comes as Israel escalates airstrikes across Syrian territory and tensions flare between Damascus and Syria’s Druze minority.
Analysis
Recent developments suggest a major geopolitical shift underway in post-Assad Syria, as transitional authorities appear to be moving toward rapprochement with Israel and the broader U.S.-aligned bloc. According to Al Mayadeen, Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Mohammad al-Joulani), now leading the country, met with U.S. Congressman Cory Mills and expressed interest in joining the Abraham Accords “under the right conditions.” This followed Syria’s arrest of two senior members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, signaling compliance with U.S. demands to suppress Palestinian armed factions operating within Syrian borders.
Reuters revealed that the U.S. handed Syria a list of eight conditions for sanctions relief, which included dismantling chemical weapons, halting Iranian and Palestinian faction activity, cooperating with U.S. counterterrorism efforts, and pledging non-aggression toward Israel. Syria’s April 14 letter in response claimed compliance with five of the conditions and proposed further dialogue on the others. Critically, it pledged that Syrian territory would not be used to threaten any country—including Israel—and outlined new oversight of Palestinian factions.
This apparent pivot has provoked severe backlash. Critics argue the so-called Syrian revolution has culminated in a betrayal of the very ideals of sovereignty and resistance it once claimed to uphold. The arrest of Palestinian fighters and overtures toward normalization have ignited debates over the legitimacy of the revolutionaries, many of whom were celebrated as liberators but are now enabling U.S. and Israeli strategic objectives.
Concurrently, Israel has intensified its military campaign across Syria. Al Mayadeen and AP News reported large-scale strikes near Damascus, Hama, and Latakia—including areas adjacent to the presidential palace—marking one of the most extensive Israeli escalations in months. Israeli officials described the attacks as a direct warning to Damascus, particularly over the government’s recent crackdown on Druze communities. Dozens were killed in sectarian clashes near Jaramana, which followed the circulation of an inflammatory audio clip allegedly insulting Islam. Israel justified its strikes as efforts to protect the Druze minority, though Druze leaders themselves rejected this intervention as opportunistic.
According to Al Jazeera, Syria condemned the Israeli strikes as a violation of sovereignty and vowed to defend its territory “by all available means.” Nonetheless, the optics of Israeli air dominance, coupled with Syria’s muted response and concurrent negotiations with the U.S., have raised further questions about the country’s strategic direction and the diminishing resistance posture once championed by Damascus.
This dual-track—acquiescing to U.S.-Israeli terms while being repeatedly struck by Israeli forces—highlights Syria’s current precariousness. It also signals a broader realignment in the region, where revolutionary narratives are giving way to transactional diplomacy, often at the expense of long-held ideological commitments.
