Syrian and Israeli officials agreed to meet again after no final accord was reached in US-mediated talks in Paris on de-escalating the conflict in southern Syria, the Syrian state-run channel Ekhbariya TV reported on Saturday, citing a diplomatic source.
The source described the dialogue as “honest and responsible,” in the first confirmation from the Syrian side that talks had taken place.
The source added that the meeting involved initial consultations aimed at “reducing tensions and opening channels of communication amid an ongoing escalation since early December.”
On Friday, US envoy Tom Barrack said officials from both countries spoke about de-escalating the situation in Syria during the talks on Thursday.
Representatives from the Syrian foreign ministry and intelligence officials were in attendance, Ekhbariya reported.
According to Axios, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer represented Israel, and Syria was represented by its foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani.
The last time such senior Israeli and Syrian officials met was in 2000, when then-US president Bill Clinton hosted then-prime minister Ehud Barak and then-Syrian foreign minister Farouq al-Sharaa in West Virginia for peace talks.
The talks came after hundreds of people were killed in clashes in the southern Syrian province of Sweida between Druze fighters, Sunni Bedouin tribes and government forces. Israel intervened with airstrikes to prevent mass killings of Druze by government forces.
According to the Saudi channel Al-Hadath, the talks are being mediated by Turkey and the United States, and an Israeli delegation is expected to travel soon to Baku, Azerbaijan, to finalize understandings with Syria.
However, the report also said Israel is not currently committing to halt its strikes in Syria and is demanding a demilitarized zone along the border, as well as a permanent presence in the buffer zone that the military seized after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December.
Prior to the strikes last week, Israel and Syria were in “advanced talks” for a deal to halt hostilities, with the Trump administration also pushing the two sides toward full normalization of diplomatic relations.
Last week’s clashes underlined the challenges Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, faces in stabilizing Syria and maintaining centralized rule, despite warming ties with the US and his administration’s evolving security contacts with Israel.
The Syrian side held Israel responsible for the latest escalation, saying that the continuation of such “hostile policies” was threatening the region, according to the source. The Syrian delegation also said that Damascus would not accept “imposing new realities on the ground.”
Israel accused al-Sharaa’s forces of complicity in the deadly attacks by Bedouin tribes against the Druze. The week of fighting appeared to end with a ceasefire negotiated by Washington and announced on Saturday.
Though his own fighters have roots in al-Qaeda, including Shaibani, Sharaa has promised to protect members of Syria’s many sectarian minorities. But that pledge has been challenged, first by mass killings of members of Assad’s Alawite sect in March, and now by the latest violence in the southwest.
Syria and Israel have been opposing sides of the conflicts in the Middle East for decades, including direct and often bitter combat.
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.