Israeli and Syrian ministers have held their first high-level meeting in 25 years.
According to Axios, the meeting took place in Paris and lasted four hours, mediated by US President Donald Trump’s special representative, Tom Barak.
Israel was represented at the meeting by Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, and Syria by Foreign Minister Asad Al-Sheibani.
Israeli officials said the summit was aimed at reaching agreements on security in southern Syria to preserve the ceasefire between Israel and Syria and avoid a crisis like last week.
The Israeli government hopes that, in addition to border security issues, the summit in France “will lead to an increase in Syria’s willingness to take diplomatic steps with Israel.” According to media reports, the semi-public meeting in Paris follows numerous secret meetings between Israeli and Syrian officials in recent months.
