Israel and Syria hold unprecedented border talks

For the first time on record, Israeli and Syrian officials have held direct, face-to-face meetings in the sensitive border zone separating their two countries — a development with potentially far-reaching implications in a region still reeling from the fall of the Assad regime.

According to multiple regional, Syrian, and Western sources, several rounds of talks have taken place in recent weeks, with Israeli security officials meeting their Syrian counterparts — led by Ahmad al-Dalati, the newly appointed governor of Quneitra — in territory that includes Israeli-controlled areas near the Golan Heights. 

These contacts are not merely rare; they are without precedent in the modern history of Israeli-Syrian relations.

The dialogue, still tightly under wraps, is focused not on reconciliation or normalization, but on preventing escalation and managing border stability. “This isn’t peace in the diplomatic sense,” said one person familiar with the backchannel efforts. “It’s peace in the form of avoiding war.”

The shift comes as Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, consolidates power in the aftermath of Bashar al-Assad’s ouster by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. 

With Assad gone, U.S. and Gulf actors are encouraging Damascus to stabilize its southern frontier and reassess long-standing alliances — including ties to Iran-backed militant groups.

Israel, meanwhile, has adjusted its posture. After years of cross-border strikes and incursions, Israeli forces remain deployed in parts of a UN-monitored buffer zone but have scaled back operations in recent weeks. 

The lull coincides with a dramatic reorientation in U.S. regional strategy: earlier this month, President Donald Trump met with Sharaa in Riyadh, signaling Washington’s willingness to engage — and prompting Israel to reassess its own options.

While Israeli officials have offered no comment, the strategic implications are clear. For years, Israel viewed Syria’s fragmentation as a strategic asset. Now, with a more centralized (if still Islamist-leaning) government in Damascus and Washington’s implicit backing, Israeli calculus is shifting from disruption to deterrence.

In tandem with the talks, Syria’s new leadership has moved to distance itself from militant factions. Several Palestinian groups with Iranian ties have reportedly been expelled from Syrian territory. 

Two senior operatives from Palestinian Islamic Jihad — which took part in the October 2023 Hamas-led assault on Israel — have been detained by Syrian forces. Damascus has also made symbolic overtures to Jewish communities and pledged non-hostility toward Israel in recent diplomatic notes to Washington.

In the southern province of Sweida — a longstanding hotspot and home to Syria’s Druze minority — violence has tapered off following Israeli airstrikes earlier this month, including one that struck near the presidential palace. The strikes were framed by Israel as warnings over potential threats to Druze populations in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

Still, deep skepticism persists in Jerusalem. Despite Sharaa’s statements about reviving the 1974 disengagement agreement that governs the Golan buffer zone, his Islamist background and sudden ascent to power have triggered wariness across Israel’s political and security establishment.

For now, the quiet diplomacy is not about breakthroughs but about brakes — keeping a precarious status quo from collapsing into conflict. Whether this fragile detente holds may depend less on shared interests than on shared limits.