EU lifts sanctions against Syria as HTS moves to normalize ties with Israel

Brussels: The European Union has lifted economic sanctions imposed against Syria, as the new administration in the Arab country expressed readiness to normalize ties with the Israeli regime.

On Wednesday, the European Council adopted legal acts lifting all economic sanctions on Syria.

The move came as EU foreign ministers agreed on May 20 to lift the measures, just one week after US President Donald Trump announced that all US sanctions on Syria would be lifted.

Trump made the announcement in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, during his visit to the kingdom where he met with the head of the HTS-led administration in Syria, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, who expressed readiness to normalize ties between Damascus and Tel Aviv.

The US president also signaled to the Israeli regime that it should work to reach an understanding with the HTS-led administration.

The HTS, a former branch of al-Qaeda, along with other militants, seized control of Damascus on December 8, 2024, forcing former President Bashar al-Assad, a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, to leave the country.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently described how the Israeli military helped the HTS takeover of Syria in December.

Since Assad was toppled, Israel has conducted hundreds of airstrikes against Syria and occupied large swathes of territory in the country, in addition to the Golan Heights, which it occupied during the Six-Day War in 1967.

The EU will keep sanctions related to Assad’s government and restrictions based on “security grounds”.

The council also imposed new sanctions against two individuals and three entities for “serious human rights abuses” connected to the recent wave of violence that erupted in March.

“The Council will continue monitoring developments on the ground and stands ready to introduce further restrictive measures against human rights violators and those fueling instability in Syria,” it said.

The security situation in Syria under the HTS – an offshoot of the al-Qaeda terrorist group – remains tenuous. Incidents of sectarian violence, including the massacre of hundreds of Alawites in March, have hardened fears among minority groups about the now dominant militants.