A recent meeting in Paris between Syrian and Israeli officials, mediated by the United States, aimed to “contain the escalation” between the two countries following intercommunal violence in southern Syria that prompted Israeli intervention, a Syrian diplomatic source said on Saturday.
In July, Israel bombed targets in Damascus and in the predominantly Druze region of Sweida in southern Syria, claiming it sought to protect the Druze community and enforce a demilitarization of the area.
According to a Syrian diplomatic source cited Saturday by state television, “a delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Intelligence Directorate” took part in Thursday’s meeting with “the Israeli side,” during which “recent security developments and efforts to contain the escalation in southern Syria” were discussed.
On Thursday, U.S. envoy for Syria Tom Barrack confirmed he had met with Syrian and Israeli representatives in Paris, without identifying them by name.
A senior diplomat told AFP that Mr. Barrack hoped to facilitate dialogue between Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Chaibani and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.
Participants also discussed “the possibility of reactivating the disengagement agreement with international guarantees, while demanding the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from positions they have recently advanced into.”
Since the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December and the rise of the new Islamist government, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria and deployed forces in the demilitarized buffer zone of the Golan Heights, violating the 1974 security agreement between the two countries, according to the United Nations.
Israel has also conducted incursions into southern Syria.
Damascus had previously confirmed indirect contacts with Israel aimed at a return to the 1974 agreement, which established the buffer zone.
The Paris meeting “did not result in any final agreement,” but allowed for “preliminary consultations aimed at reducing tensions and reopening communication channels,” the diplomatic source said.
It was agreed that further meetings would be held, the source added, emphasizing that the Syrian side had stressed the country’s unity and sovereignty were non-negotiable.
A prior meeting between Syrian and Israeli officials was held on July 12 in Baku, on the sidelines of a visit by Syria’s interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa, according to a diplomatic source in Damascus.
Israel and Syria remain technically at war since 1948, and Israel has occupied part of the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967.
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