Are Israel and Syria Coming to Terms With Each Other ?


Senior Israeli and Syrian ministers met in Paris for four hours on Thursday under the auspices of President Trump's special envoy Tom Barrack and discussed de-escalation of tensions between the countries.

The meeting that was brokered by the Trump administration was the most high-level official engagement between Israel and Syria in more than 25 years.

It was the first meeting between the parties since the crisis erupted last week in the city of Suwayda in southern Syria last week and the Israeli strikes on Damascus that followed.

The meeting in Paris was attended from the Israeli side by the minister for strategic affairs and Netanyahu's confidant Ron Dermer and from the Syrian side foreign minister Assad al-Sheibani, two Israeli officials said.

The goal of the summit was to reach security understandings regarding southern Syria in order to maintain the ceasefire between Israel and Syria and prevent a crisis like the one last week, Israeli officials said.

The Israeli government hopes that beyond the issue of security arrangements on the border, the summit in France "will lead to more Syrian willingness to move forward with Israel on diplomatic steps as well," a senior Israeli official said.

This semi-public meeting in Paris followed numerous secret meetings between Israeli and Syrian officials over the past several months.

After the collapse of the Assad regime, Israel and the Turkish government that backed the new Syrian authorities held talks on military deconfliction is Syria and established a hotline between the Israel Defense Forces and the Turkish military to prevent clashes in Syrian airspace, Israeli officials said.

During these talks the head of Turkish intelligence Ibrahim Kalin proposed to the Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi to invite Syrian officials to join the meetings.

In recent weeks, as Trump's envoy Barrack became more involved in the efforts to reach an Israeli-Syrian security agreement that would be a first step toward normalization, the decision was made that Dermer would join the talks.

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There will be no Turkish troops on the ground [in the Gaza Strip] — neither in the present, nor in the past, nor in the future — especially in the international stabilization force..."

The statement by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's office once again emphasized Israel's unwillingness to accept Turkey's inclusion in the international stabilization force in the Gaza Strip.

This statement was made in response to comments made by Trump and members of his administration regarding the desirability of Turkey's involvement in the stabilization process in the region.

#Turkish #troops #gaza #Netanyahu

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