Israel and Syria have established unprecedented direct diplomatic contact, conducting face-to-face meetings in recent weeks designed to ease border tensions and prevent conflict between the long-standing regional adversaries, according to five people with knowledge of the discussions.
These contacts represent a dramatic shift in relations between nations that have remained on opposing sides of Middle Eastern conflicts for decades. The development comes as the United States actively encourages Syria's new Islamist leadership in Damascus to forge relationships with Israel, while Israeli forces have substantially decreased their military operations within Syrian territory.
The diplomatic engagement builds upon earlier indirect communications facilitated by intermediaries, which began after Islamist forces from Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham successfully toppled Syrian President Assad in December. This information comes from multiple sources, including two Syrian officials, two Western diplomats, and a regional intelligence operative directly involved in the process.
Sources agreed to discuss these sensitive matters only under the condition of anonymity, given the delicate nature of communications between two nations lacking formal diplomatic ties and sharing a lengthy history of mutual antagonism. The existence and extent of these direct negotiations have not been disclosed publicly until now.
Syrian sources indicate that senior security figure Ahmad al-Dalati has been orchestrating these contacts from Damascus. Al-Dalati received an appointment as governor of Quneitra province, which shares borders with Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, following Assad's removal from power. Earlier this week, authorities also assigned al-Dalati responsibility for security oversight in southern Sweida province, the traditional homeland of Syria's Druze community.
Three sources confirmed to Reuters that multiple rounds of in-person discussions have occurred within the border region, with some meetings taking place on Israeli-administered land. Neither Israel's Foreign Ministry nor Syrian government representatives have provided immediate responses to requests for official comment.
