Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared a breakthrough in the long-frozen peace process on Israel’s northern border. He asserted on Sunday that the recent war against Hezbollah has effectively broken a decades-long stalemate, creating dynamic new conditions for peace talks with Syria and a potential resolution of hostilities with Lebanon.
The most dramatic sign of this thaw is with Syria. The political ice age under the Assad regime has ended, allowing for the first direct, high-level negotiations in years. A Syrian official has confirmed the two nations are working to finalize comprehensive security and military agreements by the end of 2025, a pace that suggests a genuine desire to move beyond the frozen conflict.
In Lebanon, the stalemate was Hezbollah’s entrenched power. Israel’s strategy of continued military strikes, despite a ceasefire, is designed to keep pressure on the group. This has helped create an environment where the Lebanese government, with U.S. support, feels empowered to finally take on the politically challenging task of disarmament.
“Our victories in Lebanon against Hezbollah have opened a window for a possibility that was not even imagined before,” Netanyahu stated, positioning the war as the necessary force to shatter the old, static reality. He confirmed that talks with Syria were making “some progress,” a key indicator that the diplomatic ice is breaking.
This new fluidity is leading to concrete actions. The new Syrian leadership is negotiating a demilitarized buffer zone, a concept unthinkable under the previous regime. In Beirut, the government has committed to a three-month timeline to begin disarming Hezbollah in the south, a crucial move to break the internal and external stalemate.