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Syria and Israel held high-level talks in Jordan on Sunday aimed at de-escalating tensions following recent Israeli strikes on Syrian territory, Syrian state media reported, as Damascus also sought to keep itself out of an escalating dispute between Israel and Türkiye.
The negotiations, mediated by the United States and hosted by Jordan, brought together a Syrian delegation led by Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani, along with the country's general and military intelligence chiefs, and a senior Israeli delegation, according to a diplomatic source at the Syrian foreign ministry cited by state news agency SANA. A diplomatic source and a Syrian government source separately told AFP that al-Shaibani met with Mossad chief Roman Gofman.
The meeting marked the first contact between the two sides in months, according to the sources, and came in the wake of an Israeli strike this week on the disused Abu Duhur airbase in northwestern Syria, an attack Israel said was intended to prevent Turkish forces from deploying there. Ankara denied it had made any visit to the site.
According to the foreign ministry source, Sunday's meeting was "part of efforts aiming at de-escalation after recent Israeli bombardment of Syrian territory, escalating tensions in southern Syria, and in support of stability in Syria and the region."
The talks also addressed what the source described as efforts to bring "closer the viewpoints between Türkiye and Israel" and to ensure that tensions between Ankara and Israel are "not reflected on Syria territory."
Discussions reportedly touched on establishing a "special operations room" in Jordan, under US supervision, intended to prevent any confrontation in Syria that could draw in Türkiye.
US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack had criticized the airbase strike earlier in the week, calling it an "unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have exchanged sharp public criticism since the incident.
SANA reported that Sunday's discussions also focused on "establishing practical mechanisms to stop Israeli attacks" and on "reviving the negotiations process with the aim of reaching a security agreement that could form the basis of a more comprehensive future agreement."
Israel and Syria's post-Assad authorities have held several rounds of direct talks in recent months. Following negotiations in Paris in January, the two sides agreed to set up a dedicated communication cell, under US supervision, to help ease bilateral tensions. An Arab diplomat in Damascus told AFP at the time that a planned joint operations room based in Jordan would monitor issues including security coordination and border control.
Sunday's talks took place a day after Israel struck what it described as a militant target in southern Syria. Damascus said the strike wounded one person and condemned it as a "flagrant violation" of Syrian sovereignty.
Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes inside Syria since the December 2024 fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, toppled by Islamist-led forces that Israel considers jihadist in nature.
Israeli troops have moved into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that has long separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, and Israel has carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory.
Israeli officials have said they intend to maintain troops in a so-called "security zone" in southern Syria, part of a broader push for an expanded demilitarized area along the border.
Israel seized most of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and later annexed the territory it controls there, a move recognized internationally only by the United States and, as of this month, Colombia.
US President Donald Trump has pushed for a formal security agreement between Syria and Israel, though Israeli officials have remained wary of Syria's new authorities.
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