A reserve officer serving as the battalion rabbi with the rank of major was seriously wounded Monday in an explosion near an Israel Defense Forces position in southern Syria.
The IDF is examining the source of the blast; its initial assessment is that the explosion was caused by an old Syrian landmine. The officer, who was preparing the post ahead of Yom Kippur later this week, was evacuated for treatment and his family has been notified.
The IDF maintains a security zone in Syria along the Golan Heights border. In recent weeks efforts have been under way to clinch a security agreement between Syria and Israel, but those talks ran into a last-minute obstacle after Israel insisted on opening a “humanitarian corridor” to the Sweida governorate in southern Syria, four people familiar with the negotiations told Reuters on Friday.
Syria and Israel had drawn closer in recent weeks to agreement on the outlines of a deal after months of U.S.-mediated talks in Baku, Paris and London that were accelerated ahead of the U.N. General Assembly.
Reuters reported that the pact was intended to create a demilitarized zone that would include the Sweida governorate, where hundreds of Druze were killed in clashes in July. In talks in Paris, Israel had already requested a land corridor to Sweida, but Syria rejected the demand as an infringement on its sovereignty.
According to the report, Israel renewed the demand at a later stage in the talks. A Syrian source and a Washington source who spoke to the news agency said the renewed Israeli request derailed plans to announce an agreement this week. In his U.N. speech this week, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa did not address the possibility of a deal with Israel, beyond saying that Damascus “is committed to dialogue.”
Speaking Friday at the U.N. General Assembly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Israel’s victory over Iran’s axis of terror has opened opportunities for peace. Take Syria — the idea of peace with Syria was fanciful. But no longer. We have begun serious negotiations with the new Syrian government. I believe it is possible to reach an agreement that will respect Syrian sovereignty and respect the security of Israel and minorities, including the Druze.”