According to official Damascus data, senior representatives of Syria and Israel have begun talks aimed at reducing tensions between the two countries. A Syrian delegation headed by the foreign minister of the transitional government, Asaad ash-Shaibani, and with the participation of intelligence service representatives, met with the Israeli delegation in Jordan with the mediation of the United States, the Syrian foreign ministry representative said on Sunday, 23 August.

The meeting was "part of efforts to de-escalate after recent Israeli bombardments of Syrian territory," the Syrian state news agency Sana reported.

AFP: The Syrian foreign minister met with the head of "Mossad"

In turn, AFP, citing diplomatic and government sources in Syria, says that al-Shaybani met with the head of Israel’s intelligence service, "Mossad," Roman Goefman. Among other things, the parties discussed establishing in Jordan a "special operations command center" under U.S. control. Its purpose will be to prevent clashes in Syria, including involving Turkey, the agency notes.

In January, it was reported that Israel and Syria had created a communications channel with U.S. mediation. Its aim was to coordinate matters in the areas of trade, security, and the work of intelligence services.

Israeli strike on Syria

On August 18, Israeli forces struck the abandoned Abu al-Duhur military airfield in Idlib province in northwestern Syria. Israel said this was in response to a security threat related to the placement of Turkish troops there. After that, Turkish authorities denied reports of a Turkish presence at the airfield. Syria’s transitional government called the Israeli strike an "unfounded act of aggression."

Turkey is a key ally of Syria’s transitional government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who took charge of the country after the overthrow of long-time ruler Bashar Assad in December 2024. After the Assad regime fell, Israel deployed troops into a buffer zone in southern Syria previously controlled by UN forces, and repeatedly carried out strikes on targets deep inside Syrian territory.

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