Syria's Al-Sharaa labels Israel “terrorist”
Shafaq News – Doha
Syria's transitional President Ahmad Al-Sharaa on Saturday accused Israel of acting as “a terrorist,” pointing to more than 1,000 airstrikes and 400 incursions against Syria over the past year.
In a tense exchange with CNN’s reporter on the sidelines of the 2025 Doha Forum, Al-Sharaa argued that the term “terrorist” has been used and abused without a coherent definition, insisting he has “never harmed a civilian” during more than two decades of fighting.
“Saying that I was a terrorist and judging me as a terrorist is politicized,” he noted.
He further explained that terrorists are those who kill innocent people – children and women – and who use illegitimate means to harm others, adding that the former regime under Bashar Al-Assad and Israel fall under that category.
The statement comes amid several rounds of Syrian-Israeli talks conducted under US mediation, focusing on regional stability, non-interference in Syrian affairs, and reactivation of the 1974 disengagement agreement.
After al-Assad’s ouster, Israeli forces advanced into positions inside the buffer zone set by the 1974 disengagement agreement and launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian military sites to prevent the new authorities from taking control of the former army’s arsenal. Israel has also carried out ground raids and detained individuals accused of militant activity in southern Syria, while demanding the area remain demilitarized.
Read more: Syria's shifting stance: Is normalization with Israel on the horizon?
