Israel Denies Land Swap with Syria, Damascus Says Peace Deal Premature

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Thursday denied reports claiming that Tel Aviv intended to hand over the areas of Shebaa Farms and Mount Rous to Syria in exchange for halting demands over the Golan Heights, describing such information as “false.”

The denial followed a report aired by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan on Wednesday evening, which indicated that Israel had considered transferring sovereignty over Shebaa Farms in return for suspending its claim to the Golan. The broadcaster added that negotiations were halted after recent developments in Sweida, while noting that the possibility of implementing such an agreement was raised for the first time by both sides during ongoing security talks.

In response, an official Syrian source stated that discussing the signing of a peace agreement with Israel at this stage was “premature.”

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