The head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, Roman Gofman, held a phone call with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani last week in which they discussed Turkey's military presence in Syria, three people familiar with the matter said.
Roman Gofman. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
The head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, Roman Gofman, held a phone call with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani last week in which they discussed Turkey's military presence in Syria, three people familiar with the matter said.
The call, which the sources said took place on August 14, came days before Israel launched airstrikes on a Syrian military airbase in the north of the country on Tuesday.
It marks one of the highest-level contacts yet between Israel and the new Syrian government since the fall of former dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2014.
The Israeli prime minister's office, which handles queries regarding Mossad, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesperson for Shaibani.
Reporting by Timour Azhari
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that Saudi Arabia may have military needs due to the ongoing attacks by Yemen's Houthis and that Turkey was ready to help under a trilateral defence pact that also includes Pakistan.
The head of United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon said on Saturday it was critical to ensure other UN agencies and Lebanese troops could assume the tasks carried out by the force before it begins withdrawing at the end of this year.
Eleven people were killed Friday in an explosion of unknown origin at a military site in the Ayyash area, west of Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, the country's Defense Ministry announced Saturday.
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