Israeli and Syrian officials meet following Israeli airstrike

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met over the weekend with a high-level Israeli delegation in Jordan to try to defuse tensions after Israel last week struck an air base in northern Syria, Syrian state news agency SANA reported Monday.

The U.S.-mediated discussions on Sunday focused on restarting negotiations for a future security agreement between the two countries, SANA said.

Israel struck the Abu Duhur air base in Idlib province last week, saying that it aimed to stop Turkey — which has been supporting the new Syrian government’s efforts to rebuild its armed forces after 14 years of civil war — from establishing a presence there.

Syrian officials asserted during the talks the right to develop an army and freely forge alliances with any country, the agency said.

They also called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from a buffer zone in southern Syria that they have occupied since December 2024 and reiterated Syria’s stance that the Golan Heights — which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed — is Syrian territory.

Israeli officials didn't immediately comment on the meeting as of Monday.