Syria’s foreign minister met with an Israeli delegation in Paris on Tuesday in a rare, U.S.-brokered diplomatic encounter, Syria’s state-run news agency said — a development that could mark a turning point in one of the Middle East’s most entrenched conflicts.

According to SANA, Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani sat down with Israeli officials to discuss reviving the 1974 ceasefire agreement and deescalating tensions along their shared frontier. The agency said the talks produced “understandings that support stability in the region.”

The meeting comes against the backdrop of soaring instability since the December overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which left a fragile new government in Damascus led by former jihadist fighters. Israel, distrustful of Syria’s new rulers, has seized territory in a UN-patrolled buffer zone and carried out airstrikes on Syrian military sites, insisting it will not allow hostile groups to entrench themselves near its border.

Hebrew media reported that the Israeli delegation was led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, alongside U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack. The Trump administration has been pressing to fold Syria into its broader push for Middle East normalization.

“These talks are taking place under U.S. mediation, as part of diplomatic efforts aimed at enhancing security and stability in Syria,” SANA said. A senior Trump administration official, speaking anonymously to the Associated Press, said the effort is part of Trump’s “vision of a prosperous Middle East,” including a Syria “at peace with itself and its neighbors — including Israel.”

Dermer and al-Shaibani had already met twice in recent weeks, first in Azerbaijan and later in Paris, suggesting a sustained channel of communication.

The talks also come as clashes in Syria’s southern Sweida province draw Israel deeper into Syria’s internal conflicts. Fighting between Druze groups, Bedouin clans, and Syrian government forces last month prompted Israeli airstrikes in defense of the Druze minority, a community long integrated into Israel’s own military and social fabric. Israel struck dozens of Syrian convoys and even bombed the Defense Ministry in Damascus before a U.S.- and Turkey-brokered truce calmed most of the violence.

Still, Sweida remains under siege by Syrian government forces, and Druze leaders have appealed directly to Washington. On Tuesday, Barrack met with Israeli Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Muafak Tarif in Paris. In a statement, Tarif urged the U.S. to help secure humanitarian aid for Sweida, press for the release of Druze hostages, and guarantee the community’s security.

Protests in Sweida over the weekend — some featuring demonstrators waving Israeli flags — have further inflamed Syrian public opinion, with critics denouncing the Druze as collaborators.

Israel and Syria have technically been at war since 1948. Israel captured most of the Golan Heights in 1967, later annexing the territory in a move recognized only by the U.S. Damascus continues to demand its return, while Israeli officials — including Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in June — have made clear the Golan “will remain part of the State of Israel” under any future deal.

Whether Tuesday’s meeting represents a genuine diplomatic opening or a short-lived gesture remains unclear.

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