‘Israel’ and Syria are in direct contact and have in recent weeks held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region between the two longtime foes, five people familiar with the matter said.
The contacts mark a significant development in ties between states that have been on opposite sides of conflict in the Middle East for decades, as the U.S. pushes the new extremist rulers in Damascus to establish relations with ‘Israel’, and ‘Israel’ eases its bombardment of Syria.
Three of the sources said there had been several rounds of in-person meetings in the border region, including in territory occupied by ‘Israel’. Israel’s foreign ministry and Syrian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Earlier this month, Syrian interim president Ahmad Al-Sharaa confirmed indirect ‘talks’ with Israel that he said were aimed at calming tensions, a striking admission that followed a Reuters report that the UAE was mediating such talks.
‘Israel’ has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and took more territory in the aftermath of Assad’s departure in December.
On May 14, a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Sharaa in Riyadh upended decades of U.S. Syria policy, and signalled to Israel’s right-wing government that it should work to reach understandings with Sharaa.
The regional intelligence source described Trump’s engagement with Sharaa as a pivotal part of a realignment in U.S. policy that upset Israel’s post-Assad strategy of exploiting Syria’s fragmentation.
Reuter’s report underlines the concerns about the performance of the extremist ruling in Syria in light of rapprochement with the Zionist enemy as well as the sectarian infighting and massacres in Sweida and the coastal cities.
Master of the Umma’s Martyrs Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah had warned that, when the extremists control Syria, the resistance in the region would be in danger.
Source: Reuters
