Asked how optimistic he was that talks would resume, al-Shaibani said: “It’s very hard to bet on Israel.” But Syria ⁠had “very great hope” of building stable relationships with its neighbours.

“Syria is extending its hand for understandings, for peace, for diplomacy” and regional stability.

Tensions over Syria were brought into focus last week when Israel bombed the Abu al-Duhur airbase, saying Damascus was about to allow Turkish forces to deploy there. Syria and Turkiye denied the claim.

Al-Shaibani said Syria respected Israel’s security concerns but that it must also respect those of Damascus, instead of violating its airspace and conducting raids and arrests in the south of the country.

He said earlier this year, ⁠the two sides had “agreed on paper to almost everything” regarding a security deal that would require Israel to stop attacking Syria and was tied to its withdrawal from territory seized after al-Assad fell.

That deal would include several security zones in Syrian territory near the Israeli border, including ⁠a buffer zone where only the United Nations would be present, and others where Syrian forces would deploy in varying ⁠degrees of force.