The US special envoy for Syria said he held talks with Syrian and Israeli officials in Paris on Thursday on de-escalating sectarian violence in Syria.
"I met this evening with the Syrians and Israelis in Paris. Our goal was dialogue and de-escalation, and we accomplished precisely that," said the envoy, Tom Barrack, on X.
"All parties reiterated their commitment to continuing these efforts," he added.
He did not name the officials involved but another senior diplomat earlier told AFP that Barrack was going to facilitate talks between Damascus's top diplomat Asaad al-Shaibani and an Israeli minister to discuss the recent clashes, which had drawn in Israel's military.
That would be the first ministerial meeting between the new Syrian authorities and Israel. The two countries have technically been at war since 1948, and Israel has occupied the Golan Heights from Syria since 1967.
The diplomat said that Shibani and Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer were expected to discuss southern Syria, where deadly sectarian violence earlier this month prompted Israeli intervention.
Barrack, Washington's ambassador to Turkey, was also due to meet Paris's top diplomat Jean-Noel Barrot, according to a French foreign ministry source.
Israel launched several air strikes on Syrian government positions in Sweida, a Druze-majority province in the country's south, saying it wanted to protect the minority community after sectarian clashes erupted.
The Israeli strikes also reached Damascus, hitting the area of the presidential palace and the army headquarters, in a bid to force government troops to leave Sweida city. This eventually happened under a ceasefire announced by the authorities.
Before the violence in Sweida, Syrian and Israeli officials had met in Baku on July 12, according to a diplomatic source in Damascus, coinciding with a visit to Azerbaijan by Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
After the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria to prevent key military assets from falling into the hands of the new Islamist-led administration.
Israel also sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that used to separate the opposing forces in the strategic Golan Heights, from which it has conducted forays deeper into southern Syria, demanding the area's demilitarization.
By AFP
I met this evening with the Syrians and Israelis in Paris. Our goal was dialogue and de-escalation, and we accomplished precisely that. All parties reiterated their commitment to continuing these efforts.
— Ambassador Tom Barrack (@USAMBTurkiye) July 24, 2025
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