HTS, Israeli officials hold talks to discuss occupied lands
Media have reported that the occupying Israeli regime’s official have held face-to-face talks with officials from the HTS-led regime in Syria to discuss the Israeli-occupied lands in south of the Arab country.
Israel and Syria are in direct contact and have in recent weeks held face-to-face meetings aimed at calming tensions and preventing conflict in the border region between the two longtime foes, five people familiar with the matter said, according to Reuters.
The contacts mark a significant development in ties between the two sides that have been on opposite sides of conflict in the Middle East for decades, as the US encourages the new HTS-led rulers in Damascus to establish relations with Israel and Israel eases its bombardment of Syria.
They also build on back-channel talks via intermediaries since HTS-led groups toppled Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad in December, said two Syrian and two Western sources, as well as a regional intelligence source familiar with the matter.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject for two nations with no official ties and a history of enmity. The direct talks and their scope have not been previously reported.
On the Syrian side, the sources said contacts have been led by senior security official Ahmad al-Dalati, who was appointed governor of the province of Quneitra, which borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, after the fall of Assad. Earlier this week, Dalati was also put in charge of security in the southern province of Sweida, home to Syria’s Druze minority.
Reuters could not determine who participated on Israel’s side, though two of the sources said they were security officials.
Three of the sources said there had been several rounds of in-person meetings in the border region, including in territory controlled by Israel.
Israel’s foreign ministry and Syrian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to the Reuters report, earlier this month, Syrian interim ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa confirmed indirect talks with Israel that he said were aimed at calming tensions, a striking admission that followed a Reuters report that the UAE was mediating such talks.
Israel has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and took more territory in the aftermath of Assad’s ouster in December.
MNA
