“There is very optimistic talk suggesting the possibility of opening Israeli embassy in Damascus, given the significant progress in the prospect of Syria joining the Abraham Accords,” the source said
Syrian and Israeli officials are expected to meet soon under U.S. mediation, perhaps in Paris, to finalize a security agreement between Damascus and Jerusalem, a source close to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa told i24NEWS on Saturday.
According to the Syrian source, the talks will also focus on various potential joint strategic and economic projects in the buffer zones between the two countries.
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“There is very optimistic talk suggesting the possibility of even opening an Israeli embassy in Damascus before the end of this year, given the significant progress in the prospect of Syria joining the Abraham Accords,” the source said.
The original Syrian plan was limited to a security agreement and the opening of an Israeli liaison office in Damascus without diplomatic status, the source tells me. “But developments are accelerating noticeably under pressure from the United States, and specifically by President Trump, and amid growing Syrian openness.”
If Damascus manages to reach an integration agreement with the Druze in southern Syria, similar to its agreement with the Kurds in the northeast, and Israel commits to respecting Syria’s unity and territorial integrity, then al-Sharaa would be open to elevate the status of the agreement with Israel to more than just a security agreement, to also include diplomatic relations and an Israeli embassy in Damascus.
“The al-Sharaa government believes that a viable compromise to advance a peace process with Israel would include a 25-year lease for the Golan Heights, similar to the one Jordan previously signed with Israel over the border enclaves, turning it into a ‘Garden of Peace” of joint economic ventures,” the source said.
The source close to al-Sharaa also tells me that U.S. President Trump is seeking to bring Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Al-Sharaa together for a peace agreement signing ceremony.
It should be noted that Israel has repeatedly rejected returning any part of the Golan Heights, let alone the entire territory.
On another front, the source stated that Damascus intends to adopt a new local administration system based on expanded administrative decentralization to enhance participation in local communities across all Syrian governorates.
According to the source, this solution would resolve persisting disputes with the Druze, Kurds, Alawites, and other minorities. A new Syrian government is expected to be formed within the next three months, the source added.
Argentine President Javier Milei and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sign the founding charter of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace during a ceremony on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2026. Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images.
(Jan. 22, 2026 / JNS)
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday launched his Board of Peace at a ceremony on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, attended by representatives of at least 18 nations.
Leaders and representatives from Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kosovo, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan were among those on stage as Trump spoke during the signing ceremony, The Guardian reported.
The board, which will initially focus on solidifying the ceasefire with Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, “can do pretty much whatever we want to do” once it is “completely formed,” said Trump in remarks.
“And we’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations,” he added.
“I’ve always said the United Nations has got tremendous potential, has not used it, but there’s tremendous potential in the United Nations, and you have some great people at the United Nations,” the president said.
“You know, on the eight wars that I ended, I never spoke to the United Nations about any of them,” he went on. “They tried, I guess, in some of them, but they didn’t try hard enough.”
The Board of Peace can be “something very, very unique for the world,” Trump continued. “The first steps toward a brighter day for the Middle East and a much safer future for the world are unfolding right before your very eyes.”
The new body will seek to end “decades of suffering, stop generations of hatred and bloodshed, and forge a beautiful, everlasting and glorious peace for that region and for the whole region of the world,” he said.
“We’re going to have peace in the world,” the president declared.
As the signing ceremony got underway, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declared, “The charter is now in full force, and the Board of Peace is now an official international organization.”
Steve Witkoff, U.S. special envoy for peace missions, told attendees that Trump “created a sense of hope for what the future can bring in Gaza and in all other places where the Board of Peace will operate.
“I remember when the president asked Jared [Kushner], I, and of course our great secretary of state [Marco Rubio] to work on something that the world thought was impossible and unattainable,” the envoy said in his speech. “But the president—on this peace deal for Gaza, as on all other deals we work on his behalf—said we had to try and, of course, we were inspired by that.
“We have achieved a peace deal in Gaza. We have brought the hostages home all of the bodies, except for one, and we will bring that body home too,” Witkoff vowed.
Witkoff thanked “my good friend from Qatar,” Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others.
During the event, Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a Middle East real estate developer, presented plans to disarm Hamas and develop the Gaza Strip into a free market hub for tourism with an airport and seaport after U.S.-backed reconstruction efforts conclude by 2035.
Netanyahu on Wednesday accepted Trump’s 
