WASHINGTON (United States)(National Times)- Syria’s new government and Israel will set up a joint group under US supervision to share intelligence and seek military de-escalation on the ground, they announced Tuesday after talks. The Syrian foreign minister traveled to Paris in his country’s first known meeting in months with Israel, which has pounded its historic adversary despite US unease over the pressure on the fragile government. A joint statement issued by the US State Department after the talks in the French capital said that Syria and Israel were committed to “achieving lasting security and stability arrangements for both countries.” “Both sides have decided to establish a joint fusion mechanism — a dedicated communication cell — to facilitate immediate and ongoing coordination on their intelligence sharing, military de-escalation, diplomatic engagement and commercial opportunities under the supervision of the United States,” the statement said. “This mechanism will serve as a platform to address any disputes promptly and work to prevent misunderstandings.” The statement did not say Israel would refrain from further strikes or restore an agreement that was previously in place.
ISRAELI STRIKES
Israel has no diplomatic relations with Syria, which during the half-century of rule by the Assad family publicly championed the Palestinian cause and was the Arab world’s key ally of Iran’s clerical state, Israel’s arch-enemy. Bashar al-Assad was ousted in a lightning offensive in December 2024 by Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadist, after more than a decade of brutal civil war. President Donald Trump has met and praised Sharaa, now the interim president and an ally of Saudi Arabia and Turkey, brushing aside Israeli skepticism. The talks in Paris were mediated by Tom Barrack, a Trump business friend who is ambassador to Turkey and an outspoken advocate of supporting Sharaa. The United States recently fully removed remaining sanctions on Syria, hoping to give the country a chance to integrate into the global economy. Since Assad’s fall, Israel sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that had separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel, saying there was a power vacuum, also unilaterally declared void a 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria that had kept in effect a ceasefire. Sharaa has sought to restore the agreement and avoid wider conflict with Israel, but he has also opposed Israel’s insistence on maintaining a demilitarized zone in southern Syria. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called for economic cooperation with Syria and “regional stability and security.” “It was agreed to continue the dialogue to advance shared objectives and safeguard the security of the Druze minority in Syria,” it said. Israel has cited violence against the Druze, who also have a presence inside Israel, as a reason to intervene in Syria. Israel in July launched massive air strikes, including hitting the defense ministry in Damascus, leading some analysts to believe it was hoping to degrade military capacities of Syria while it was at a weak point.
