Damascus. The Syrian foreign minister met the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency in Jordan on Sunday, according to sources, days after an Israeli attack on an airbase in Syria.

Requesting anonymity to discuss the matter, a diplomatic source and a Syrian government source said Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani and Mossad chief Roman Gofman discussed issues such as establishing "a special operations room" in Jordan under US supervision to prevent any confrontation in Syria, including involving Turkey.

It came after Israel on Tuesday bombed the disused Abu Duhur base in northwestern Syria, claiming it wanted to avert Turkish troops deploying to the facility, while Ankara denied any visit to the site.

The meeting, which was first reported by news outlet Axios, was not confirmed officially by either side, with a spokesperson for the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling AFP they had no comment.

The government source said these were the first negotiations between Israel and Syria in some time, while the diplomatic source said they were the first in several months.

Israel and Syria's new authorities have held several rounds of direct talks, and after negotiations in January -- and under US pressure -- they agreed to establish an intelligence-sharing mechanism as they edged towards a security agreement.

The two sources also said Shaibani and Gofman discussed Israeli incursions into southern Syria.

Since the December 2024 overthrow of Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country and has sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone that for decades had separated Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan.

It has also carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory and has vowed to keep troops in a so-called "security zone" in southern Syria, where it seeks a broader demilitarised area.

The talks came a day after Israel struck what it said were militants in Syria near the Golan Heights, as Damascus said one person was wounded in the strike which it called a "flagrant violation" of its sovereignty.
 

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