Israel and the new Syrian regime have recently held direct talks, according to an Israeli source familiar with the matter – an indication of shifting dynamics between the former enemies as Israel expands its military presence in the country.
The talks were held in Azerbaijan and were attended by the chief of the Israeli military’s Operations Directorate, Maj. Gen. Oded Basyuk, the source said, adding that Basyuk met with Syrian government representatives in the presence of Turkish officials.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would not confirm or deny that the talks in Azerbaijan took place, but did say that there have not been any direct talks between IDF officials and representatives of the Syrian government.
CNN has reached out to the Turkish government for comment.
Interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said last week that his government was holding indirect talks with Israel to bring an end to its attacks on his country “so matters don’t reach a point where both sides lose control.”
There’s been no word from Damascus on any direct talks with Israel.
The source did not disclose the topics of the meeting, nor who was mediating. Channel 12 in Israel was the first to report the meeting.
This week, US President Donald Trump met Sharaa – a former jihadist who was designated a terrorist by the US in 2013 – in Saudi Arabia. Trump pledged to remove crippling sanctions imposed against the regime of Bashar al Assad. Assad was overthrown in an uprising led by Sharaa and fled Syria in December.
The White House said that Trump urged Sharaa take a series of measures, including normalization with Israel, expelling foreign and Palestinian “terrorists,” and helping the US to prevent the resurgence of ISIS.
Since the Assad regime fell, Israel has taken more territory in Syria and staged multiple attacks that it says are aimed at preventing the reconstitution of military capabilities and rooting out militancy that could threaten its security. Israel’s move into Syrian territory was initially described as temporary but officials have since said that the military will remain indefinitely.
Israel has also declared a buffer zone in the south of Syria with the stated aim of protecting Syria’s Druze minority. It also occupies the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria in the 1967 war and later annexed.
Prospect of sanctions returning every six months
The US Treasury said Thursday it was working to Trump’s direction on Syria sanctions and aims to implement “the necessary authorizations that would be critical to bringing new investment into Syria.”
It added in a post on X that the “Treasury’s actions can help rebuild Syria’s economy, financial sector, and infrastructure and could put the country on a path to a bright, prosperous, and stable future.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarified that the US will issue waivers to Syria sanctions and is not fully repealing them for the time being.
“As we make progress, hopefully we’ll be in a position soon, or one day, to go to Congress and ask them to permanently remove the sanctions,” Rubio said in Antalya, Turkey, adding that the Trump administration hoped to eventually repeal the waivers because the prospect of sanctions returning every six months is a deterrent to investment.
An Israeli official told CNN earlier that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had asked Trump not to remove sanctions on Syria, saying he feared it would lead to a repeat of the events of October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel.
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