Israel and Syria are conducting direct talks to reduce escalating tensions

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Three people who have seen the situation said that Syria and Israel have held several rounds of direct talks in recent weeks with the aim of suppressing the escalating tensions between neighboring countries.

The talks were the first known direct contact between the new leadership in Damascus and their Israeli counterparts amid a series of Israeli air strikes on Syrian soil, as the people said, which included Western diplomats and a Syrian official. The two countries did not historically have diplomatic relations.

One of the people said: “This is the beginning only, but the talks focus largely on preventing the outbreak of hostilities and encouraging Israelis to retreat from the Syrian border areas that they overcome.”

The two have been involved in indirect talks since the Islamic rebels, led by Haya Tarir Al -Sham, overthrew the regime of Bashar al -Assad in December.

Diplomats and officials said that the United Arab Emirates was a channel for those talks.

The direct dialogue, which Reuters informed for the first time, comes at a time when President Donald Trump has reduced sanctions on Syria and met the Syrian President in Riyadh, and Shara urged last week to normalize relations with Israel and contain Palestinian militants.

Since then, many gunmen who criticized the former rebel group in Shara and with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Syria have been arrested, while it was seen as a gesture of goodwill.

After them interview, Trump suggested that Shara was ready to normalize relations with Israel in the end. Sharaa did not comment on this, but he instead stressed the return of the conditions for a ceasefire in 1974 between Syria and Israel, which established an insoluble buffer zone.

The Syrian delegation, Ahmed Al -Dalati, the ruler of the southern province of Quneitra, which limits the Golan Heights occupied by the Israeli and its two children. I saw the presence of Israeli forces since the spring. It was part of the delegation that traveled to the United Arab Emirates to mediate the initial talks earlier this year.

Dalati was a senior official in the rebel alliance, which helped topple Assad in December, and he was trustworthy of Shara and Foreign Minister, who had the corruption of Al -Shaybani. His mandate was expanded earlier this week to include Sweida, the comfortable southern province of the Druze minority in Syria.

One of the people said that at least one tour of the talks was held in Quneitra.

The new Syrian leadership sought to involve Western and regional powers, saying it focused on the new conflict, but rebuilding and unifying the country after more than 13 years of civil war.

The young administration has not threatened to share or take provocative measures against Israel, and its officials met with the leaders of the Syrian Jewish community.

After the expulsion of Assad, Israel began an aggressive military campaign in Syria. She seized an ancient five -day insulating area “indefinitely”, and she bombed what she says are military targets and infringement of cities and villages in Quneitra province, outside the region occupied by Israel since the 1967 Israeli War.

The Israeli leaders have criticized the new Syrian leaders as a “terrorist system for radical Islam” and threatened a wider attack if the government harms the Druze.

Earlier this month, Israeli aircraft near the Shara Presidential Palace struck in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a message to Damascus after a wave of sectarian violence that involves the Druze.

The Syrian presidency condemned the Israeli bombing, saying that it was “a dangerous escalation against state institutions and sovereignty” and accused Israel of trying to “undermine stability and deepen security crises.”

Meanwhile, Israel pressed Washington to prevent the Trump administration from lifting sanctions on Syria to maintain the leverage on its emerging government, as two Western diplomats, a former US official, said to be aware of the conversations and one Syrian official.

A Western diplomat said that the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Cara earlier this month “explained” the road map in Washington to Syria and pressure on Israel “to join the fastest.”

In recent weeks, mutual accusations have been calm, amid relative calm in Sweden days after armed clashes between the Druze factions – some of which have Israeli support – and other fighters, including some who are believed to be affiliated with the new authorities.

Foreign ministries in Israel or Syria immediately did not respond to the requests for comment. The Israeli Prime Minister’s office refused to comment.