A rare and tightly controlled visit by two rabbis to long-abandoned Jewish sites in Aleppo is piquing interest from regional observers who say it marks another step in a pattern of discreet Israeli-linked activity inside Syria.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, the rabbis arrived in Aleppo’s Al-Jemayliyah neighborhood without advance public notice to participate in what was described as a religious-cultural event organized with an association operating in northern Syria. The visit included stops at two historic shuls in Al-Jemayliyah and Bab Al-Nasr — once central hubs of Aleppo’s now-vanished Jewish community.

Security forces sealed off surrounding streets, deployed heavily around the sites, and barred civilian access during the event. The organization released video footage of the rabbis walking through the shuttered buildings, calling it the first such visit in many years and part of a “series of unusual Israeli activities” in the country.

What raised even more eyebrows was the reported purpose of the trip: reviewing assets and properties historically owned by Syrian-Jewish families. SOHR sources said the governor of Aleppo pledged to address long-standing disputes over those properties, many of which were allegedly taken over by corrupt networks during the civil war and years of state instability. The promise appeared to signal a willingness — at least rhetorically — to revisit unresolved claims involving Syria’s Jewish diaspora.

For Syria watchers, the episode fits into a broader mosaic of quiet engagement that has accelerated under the country’s transitional authorities. Several weeks ago, the rabbis’ visit was preceded by similar low-profile events in Damascus, including closed-door meetings with local figures, according to SOHR.

These developments have unsettled some residents in northern Syria, who fear that what began as cultural outreach could morph into a more assertive Israeli footprint in areas only loosely governed by the central state. Transitional authorities, facing political fragmentation and limited resources, have increasingly tolerated foreign-linked civil society initiatives, a trend that carries both economic appeal and geopolitical risk.

Israeli officials have not commented on the reported visit, and Syrian state media has remained silent.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)