Syria’s president meets World Jewish Congress chief in New York

Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa met on Sunday with World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder at the Syrian mission headquarters in New York.

The state-run Alikhbaria channel said the meeting, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, dwelt on negotiations between Syria and Israel.

Lauder, who has Syrian roots, played a role in the Syrian-Israeli peace talks during the 1990s and is known for his opposition to Israeli territorial expansion at Syria's expense, the channel said.

Following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime last December, Israel has launched hundreds of strikes targeting military sites and assets across Syria, including fighter jets, missile systems, and air defense installations.

Israel also expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated a 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.