U.S. Special Envoy Tom Barrack announced Thursday night that Israeli and Syrian officials held a face-to-face meeting in Paris aimed at reducing tensions and advancing regional stability.

“I met this evening with the Syrians and Israelis in Paris,” Barrack wrote on social media. “Our goal was dialogue and de-escalation, and we accomplished precisely that. All parties reiterated their commitment to continuing these efforts.” Neither Israeli nor Syrian government sources immediately confirmed the meeting.

While rumors of indirect talks and quiet diplomatic contacts between the two nations have circulated for months, this marks the first time that a meeting involving the new Syrian government in Damascus has been publicly acknowledged. According to a report by Axios, Israel was represented by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close confidant of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, while Syria’s delegation was headed by newly appointed Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani.

The meeting, reportedly facilitated by both the United States and Turkey, comes amid renewed instability in southern Syria following sectarian clashes in the Sweida region and an Israeli airstrike in Damascus last week. According to Saudi outlet Al-Hadath, those clashes and strikes have accelerated secret diplomatic contacts, with additional meetings between Israeli and Syrian delegations reportedly planned in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Despite these diplomatic overtures, Israel is said to be maintaining its security posture in the region. Reports indicate that Israeli officials have thus far refused to halt strikes inside Syria and are demanding the establishment of a demilitarized zone near Israel’s northern border, along with a permanent Israeli presence in the buffer zone seized after the Assad regime’s fall in December.

Dermer was scheduled to meet with U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff in Rome Thursday evening, though the meeting is reportedly postponed after Israel and the U.S. recalled their delegations from Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha.

The last publicly confirmed high-level meeting between Israel and Syria took place over two decades ago, when President Bill Clinton hosted Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Sharaa for peace talks in West Virginia in 2000.

In Jerusalem on Thursday, Prime Minister Netanyahu also met with Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community. The meeting followed Israel’s intervention earlier this month in Syria’s civil strife, in which the IDF acted to protect the embattled Druze minority in southern Syria. Jewish and Druze communities in Israel have long maintained strong ties, with Druze youth serving in the IDF and playing a visible role in national life.

While Syria’s interim government—led by Ahmed al-Sharaa—has pledged to protect the country’s many minority groups, those promises are being tested. Sharaa himself has been accused of tolerating or failing to prevent attacks by Bedouin tribes on Druze communities in Sweida.

Complicating matters, Syria has formally requested Turkish military and technical assistance to bolster its defense infrastructure, particularly against Islamist terror groups such as the Islamic State. Turkish defense ministry sources said Wednesday that training and advisory support is being discussed, and reports suggest that Turkey is seeking to formalize its growing presence in Syria—possibly including permanent military bases.

Amid these growing tensions, Israel and Turkey have reportedly agreed to a deconfliction mechanism to prevent inadvertent clashes as both militaries operate in overlapping areas of Syria.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)