Syria has publicly acknowledged a high-level meeting in Paris between Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and an Israeli delegation, mediated by the U.S., in what multiple media reports describe as an effort to reduce tensions in southern Syria and explore limited security cooperation. A Syrian official, cited by Israeli media, said the two sides are edging toward a security arrangement that could be unveiled at the United Nations General Assembly in September, even as officials in Israel cautioned that normalization with Damascus remains distant.
According to Raialyoum, the meetings are framed by both sides as a bid to “get out of the Sweida crisis.” The outlet reported that recent Israeli strikes in Damascus and unrest in Sweida have intensified back-channel contacts, with Washington brokering talks and pushing confidence-building steps.
Israel’s i24NEWS, citing its Arab affairs analyst Baruch Yedid and a Syrian source, said the Paris talks aimed to defuse the crisis in Sweida (Suwayda), where Druze communities have been caught in escalating violence. The channel quoted Israeli officials as saying normalization with Syria is “a long way off,” but that there is a basis for targeted security cooperation. The Syrian source was quoted as saying, “We are approaching a security agreement with Israel,” suggesting an announcement could be timed for the UN General Assembly.
Syria’s state news agency SANA took the unusual step of publishing a midnight readout confirming that al-Shibani met an “Israeli delegation” in Paris to discuss “enhancing stability in the region and southern Syria.” According to SANA, the agenda included de-escalation, non-interference in Syria’s internal affairs, monitoring a ceasefire in Sweida (Jabal al-Druze), and reactivating the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement on the Golan Heights.
Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, in a report by columnist Smadar Perry, added that the Paris encounter—attended, according to the paper, by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer—was preceded by a preparatory meeting in Amman involving al-Shibani, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and U.S. envoy Thomas Barak. The paper noted that SANA’s prompt disclosure of the Paris session was atypical, signaling a degree of deliberate transparency.
Humanitarian access was a key focus, the Israeli report stated. After Jordan rejected an Israeli request to route food, medicine, and medical equipment to Sweida’s Druze through its territory, Israel considered airdropping supplies by military helicopter. Israeli officials also weighed a U.S.-backed “humanitarian corridor” from the Israeli-controlled Golan area toward Sweida, while warning—according to the paper—of the risk that armed groups could exploit any corridor to smuggle weapons. Perry reported that Barak met in Paris with Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Druze community, to discuss a possible corridor from the Druze village of Khadr near Mount Hermon toward Sweida; the report also claimed evidence was presented alleging Syrian regime involvement in a recent massacre in Sweida. These assertions could not be independently verified.
Any security understanding would likely focus on tactical deconfliction, border stability, and humanitarian facilitation rather than diplomatic normalization. Reactivating the 1974 disengagement framework, monitored by the UN Disengagement Observer Force, could provide a legal and operational framework for reducing friction along the frontier while talks continue.