Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, August 19, 2026
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, August 19, 2026
Report: Mossad director, Syria foreign minister discussed Turkish military deployments before IDF strikes
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleThe head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, Roman Gofman, held a phone call with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani last week in which they discussed Turkey’s military presence in Syria, three people familiar with the matter tell Reuters..
The call, which the sources say took place on August 14, came days before Israel launched airstrikes on a Syrian military airbase in the north of the country on Tuesday.
It marks one of the highest-level contacts yet between Israel and the new Syrian government since the fall of former dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2014.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, which handles queries regarding Mossad, does not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor does a spokesperson for Shaibani.
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