Israel and Syria have gone to direct conversations

Israel and Syria have been in direct contact and in recent weeks have held personal meetings aimed at soothing tensions and preventing conflict in the border area between long -standing enemies, five people familiar with the question said.

Contacts have a significant development in relations between countries that have been on opposite countries in the Middle East for decades, as the United States has encouraged new Islamist rulers in Damascus to establish relations with Israel, and Israel is facilitating its bombing against Syria.

They also upgrade the conversations on behind -the -scenes channels through intermediaries since the Islamist rebels « Hait Tahrir Ash Sham » took down Syrian dictator Bashar al -Assad in December, two Syrian and two Western sources reported, as well as a regional intelligence source familiar with the question.

The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity given the delicacy of the topic for two countries without official ties and history of hostility. Their scope has not been announced before direct conversations.

On the Syrian side, the sources say the contacts were led by a senior security officer Ahmad AD Dalati, who was appointed governor of Kunytra province bordering on Israeli Golanski hills after the fall of Assad. Earlier this week, Dalati was also appointed security officer in the southern province of Suida, the home of the minority in Syria.

Reuters failed to determine who was involved in Israel, although two of the sources said they were security officers.

Three of the sources have announced that there have been several rounds of personal meetings in the border area, including in an Israeli -controlled territory.

Israel occupied the Syrian Golan elevations from the Arab-Israeli War in 1967 and seized more territories after the removal of Assad in December, arguing with continuing fears about the extremist past of the new rulers of the country. He also launched an air bombing campaign that destroyed much of the country’s military infrastructure, while lobbing to Washington to keep the country weak and decentralized.

But the bombing and criticism has disappeared in recent weeks.

On May 14, a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Sharaa in Riyadh overturned a decade of US policies regarding Syria and signaled to Israel’s right government that he should work to reach Sharaa understanding.

The Regional Intelligence Source described Trump’s commitment to Sharaa as a very important part of US -reorganizing US policy, which confused Israel’s strategy after Assad to use Syria fragmentation.

Wider understanding

The relative calm in May also led to a reduction in the tension around the suteid, where last month there were days of bloody clashes between the armed factions of Druzi, some of which enjoyed Israeli support, and Muslim Sunni fighters.

Against the backdrop of violence, Israel has taken a series of air strikes, including one just in front of the Presidential Palace, which views Damascus, formulated as a warning of threats against Druzi, branching of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

Although direct negotiations are currently focused on joint security, such as the prevention of conflict and reducing Israeli invades in the Syrian border villages, two sources have said they can help make the way for a broader political understanding. « So far, they are for peace, as in the absence of war, not to normalize, » said a person familiar with the conversations on behind the scenes channels.

Trump pointed after his meeting with Sharaa that the Syrian leader was ready to eventually normalize relations with Israel, adding that it would take some time. Sharah did not comment on the statement, and instead stated that it supported the return to the conditions of the 1974 fire termination agreement, which created the UN Buffer Zone in the Golan Hills.