Syria seeks talks with Israeli officials to 'contain escalation'
Israel launched strikes this month on Damascus and Druze-majority Sweida province, saying it was acting both in support of the religious minority and to enforce its demands for a demilitarised southern Syria.
The Syrian diplomatic source told state television on Saturday that the recent Paris meeting "brought together a delegation from the foreign ministry and the general intelligence service with the Israeli side", and addressed "recent security developments and attempts to contain the escalation in southern Syria".
On Thursday, US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack had said he held talks with unspecified Syrian and Israeli officials in Paris.
A senior diplomat had previously told AFP that Barrack would be facilitating talks between Damascus's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
According to the source cited by state TV, the meeting "addressed the possibility of reactivating the disengagement agreement with international guarantees, while demanding the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from points where they recently advanced".
After the overthrow of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that used to separate the countries' forces in the strategic Golan Heights.
It has since conducted incursions deeper into southern Syria, demanding the area's total demilitarisation.
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