Sovereignty Support Movement Sovereignty for West Asia
from the News Desk at the Cradle, published July 25
Hardly worth posting except as a reminder of who’s calling the shots (SSM Editor)
Negotiations between Damascus and Tel Aviv are resuming after a series of violent Israeli strikes on Syria last week.
The US envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, said on 24 July that he met in Paris with Syrian and Israeli officials for “dialogue and de-escalation.”
“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,” he said.
Barrack did not specify which Israeli and Syrian officials were present at the meeting.
According to reports from earlier in the day, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer were scheduled to meet in Paris for talks on the situation in southern Syria.
A French diplomatic source told Rudaw earlier on Thursday that French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was set to meet with Barrack and Shaibani on 25 July “to discuss the latest developments in Syria.”
The talks come after the end of violent clashes between pro-government Bedouin tribes and local Syrian Druze factions in the southern city of Suwayda and its countryside.
Syrian government forces said they deployed to restore order last week, but were involved in the clashes and participated in atrocities against unarmed Druze civilians.
Israel intervened last week with a series of violent airstrikes targeting Damascus and other areas in southern Syria, under the pretext of “protecting” the Druze minority.
A fragile ceasefire is currently holding, after a previous deal fell apart and saw clashes resume.
Damascus and Tel Aviv have recently been engaged in negotiations on potential security arrangements and normalization.
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the founder of Al-Qaeda in Syria and former deputy to late ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has been personally involved in negotiations with Israeli officials, according to multiple reports.
Israel, which occupied large swathes of south Syria after the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government, claims it wishes to defend the Druze minority from authorities in Damascus.
Saudi media reported earlier this week that Syrian–Israeli talks have resumed following a brief pause after the attacks.
However, the report said Israel is not committed to completely stopping its attacks in Syria, and is demanding a demilitarized zone along the border, as well as a permanent presence in the buffer zone that Israeli occupation forces seized after the collapse of Assad’s government in December last year.
