Syria confirms its FM met with Mossad chief for deescalation talks

Syria and Israel held high-level, US-mediated talks in Jordan on Sunday aimed at easing tensions following recent Israeli strikes on Syrian territory, Syria’s state news agency SANA reports, citing a diplomatic source at the foreign ministry.

A report carried by SANA says the Syrian delegation was led by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, who was accompanied by the heads of general and military intelligence. It doesn’t specify who represented Israel, though earlier reports said the Israeli delegation was led by Mossad chief Roman Gofman.

According to SANA, the talks dealt with “establishing practical mechanisms to halt” Israeli strikes and military operations in southern Syria, with Damascus also reiterating its stance “that the occupied Golan is Syrian territory” and declaring that its chief priority “is the withdrawal of Israeli forces to the lines held before December 8, 2024, and the reactivation and full implementation” of the 1974 disengagement agreement.

The statement adds that Syria is working “to bridge differences” between Israel and Israel in order to “ensure that tensions between the two countries do not spill over onto Syrian territory.” Israel has said its recent strikes on a Syrian airbase were to thwart a planned Turkish troop deployment there.