After Deadly Clashes, Syria and Israel Hold Direct Talks
The meeting Tuesday, between the Syrian foreign minister, Asaad al-Shaibani, and an Israeli delegation, was the first time that Syria's new government has publicly acknowledged holding direct talks with the country's powerful neighbor and longtime foe.
The discussions focused on de-escalation following deadly clashes last month between Syrian government forces and the Druse minority in the southern province of Sweida. The sectarian violence left more than 1,600 people dead and prompted Israel to launch airstrikes on Damascus in defense of the Druse.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli government on the meetings, which were brokered by the U.S. special envoy to Syria, Thomas J. Barrack Jr.
But Sheikh Muwaffaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israel's Druse community, said in an interview Wednesday that he joined the delegation alongside Ron Dermer, Israel's minister of strategic affairs. Mr. Dermer's office declined to comment when asked about the meetings with Syrian officials.
Israel and Syria have technically been at war since 1948 with their most enduring point of contention being the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau that Israel seized in the Six Day war in 1967 and later annexed. The two countries signed an agreement in 1974 that created a buffer zone by the United Nations and largely kept the border quiet, but Syrian efforts to recover the territory never advanced and violence on the front has periodically flared up.
Last month, President Ahmed al-Shara of Syria accused Israel of seeking to sow 'chaos' in the country after it carried out airstrikes near the presidential palace in Damascus and damaged the Defense Ministry. Mr. al-Shara's speech marked his most direct condemnation of Israel since he took power in January, following the ousting of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, and cast doubt on nascent diplomatic efforts to ease tensions.
Desperate to stabilize the embattled nation after a 13-year civil war, Syria's new government had sought to quell tensions with Israel in recent months and reverse decades of isolation and hostility between the two longstanding foes. Since Mr. al-Assad was overthrown, the Israeli military has carried out incursions into southern Syria that raised fears of a prolonged occupation, and launched hundreds of airstrikes on military targets inside the country.
Israeli officials have defended their actions as an effort to ensure that hostile forces do not entrench themselves along the Israeli border.
They have also pledged to protect the Druse, a religious minority that also makes up a small but influential minority in Israel. In recent months, Israel's military has declared Sweida, the heartland of Syria's Druse minority, off-limits to Syrian government forces and enforced that with airstrikes.
But Israel's strikes on Damascus in July marked a dramatic escalation in its bombing campaign, and came amid one of the deadliest bouts of sectarian violence to sweep post-Assad Syria.
Despite pledges by Syria's new, largely Sunni leadership to protect the country's diverse array of ethnic and religious minorities, repeated spasms of sectarian violence at the hands of forces affiliated with the central government have undermined the push for unity.
Since a cease-fire was imposed in Sweida, the strategic region near the Israeli and Jordanian borders has effectively been cut off from the rest of Syria. The U.N. migration agency warned this month that the province was facing a 'worsening humanitarian crisis,' citing collapsed services, mass displacement, and blocked access routes.
That crisis, combined with the violence, has deepened support in Sweida for Israeli protection, while leaving Syrian Druse more isolated than ever from the country's fledgling government.
On Wednesday, Mr. Tarif said he had an 'excellent' meeting with Mr. Barrack, the U.S. envoy, in Paris and pressed him to open a humanitarian corridor to bring supplies into Sweida.
Mr. Barrack wrote on social media that the talks centered on 'bringing together the interests of all parties, de-escalating tensions, and building understanding.'
Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.
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