Syria and Israel held high-level talks in Jordan on Sunday under U.S. mediation aimed at easing tensions following recent Israeli strikes on Syrian territory, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported, citing a diplomatic source at the foreign ministry.
The meeting, the first between the two sides in several months, brought together a Syrian delegation led by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, along with the heads of Syria’s general and military intelligence services, and an Israeli delegation that included Mossad chief Roman Gofman. Talks focused on practical measures to halt Israeli strikes, arrests and targeted operations inside Syria, and on reviving negotiations toward a security agreement that could form the basis of a broader accord. The two sides also discussed steps to prevent tensions between Israel and Turkey from spilling into Syrian territory, including a proposal to establish a joint operations room in Jordan under U.S. oversight.
Shaibani told Reuters on Saturday that Damascus expected security talks with Israel to resume soon, though he said a lack of trust between the two sides remained an obstacle. Negotiations had been suspended since the start of the Iran war earlier this year, and Syria cut off contact entirely after Israeli strikes on the Abu al-Duhur airbase last week. Shaibani said the two sides had reached broad agreement on paper around the start of the year, including plans for security zones in southern Syria and a buffer area to be monitored solely by U.N. forces, but said Damascus doubted Israel’s willingness to follow through. Israel’s prime minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment on his remarks.
According to SANA, Syria told the Israeli delegation at Sunday’s meeting that its immediate priorities remain an Israeli withdrawal to the positions held before Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow in December 2024, and full restoration of the 1974 disengagement agreement that has governed the frontier for decades. Damascus also said it would not accept any arrangement limiting its right to rebuild its armed forces or choose its own alliances, and reiterated that the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights are Syrian territory, while saying discussion of the region’s final status was premature.
Israel has carried out repeated strikes on Syrian military sites since Assad’s fall, saying the action is necessary to protect its security, while Damascus has denied posing any threat to Israel and has demanded an end to the strikes and incursions. The two countries have technically remained at war since 1948; Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war and later annexed it, a move recognized by the United States but not by most of the international community.
