The ISW published the details of Israel’s Security Agreement with Syria

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has revealed details of a new Israeli plan to establish a demilitarized zone in southern Syria, divided into three zones with varying levels of security and military restrictions, extending to the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.

The plan, which was presented to the Syrian side several weeks ago, represents an attempt to replace the 1974 disengagement agreement between Syria and Israel, which has governed the military situation in the Golan Heights for nearly fifty years.

The proposed three-zone division is based on the 1979 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, which divided Sinai into three security zones.

Similarly, the Israeli plan proposes dividing southern Syria into:

Blue Zone: An UN-supervised buffer zone extending from the southern Quneitra countryside to Mount Hermon, extending further into Syrian territory after Israel took control of it in December 2024.

Yellow Zone: Includes the western Dara’a countryside to the western Damascus countryside.

Syrian military forces are prohibited from operating there, but police and public security are permitted to operate.

Red Zone: extends from eastern Dara’a, through southern Damascus, and reaches Sweida, which will be under a no-fly zone status.

One of the plan’s core principles is maintaining an air corridor within Syrian territory that would allow Israel to carry out potential airstrikes against Iranian targets.

Israel has also expressed its willingness to gradually withdraw from some areas it seized after the fall of Bashar al Assad’s regime, but has emphasized retaining Mount Hermon as a strategic location for monitoring regional movements.

On the other hand, Damascus rejects the Israeli proposal and adheres to the 1974 agreement as the sole reference, demanding an end to Israeli airstrikes and a full withdrawal from the newly occupied territories.

Although there has been no official response from the Syrian side yet, reports indicate that Damascus is preparing a counterproposal, with negotiations scheduled to resume in London on September 17 and then in Baku on September 19.

However, expectations are slim that an agreement will be reached soon.

This plan reveals that southern Syria has become a key axis in the new regional balance of power, as Israel seeks to secure its borders from any potential threat, while Damascus believes that any concession in this region would consolidate a new occupation reality.