Syria-Israel contacts said to intensify in wake of Trump-Sharaa meeting & lifting of US sanctions

Israeli and Syrian representatives have reportedly held talks in recent days to ease tensions and explore the possibility of Syria joining the Abraham Accords, multiple news outlets reported Thursday.

According to Channel 12 News, a delegation led by Maj.-Gen. Oded Basyuk, head of the IDF Operations Directorate, met with Syrian and Turkish representatives in Azerbaijan in recent days, with Emirati officials serving as mediators.

However, Walla News military expert Amir Bohbot said the meeting only included Turkish representatives, not Syrians, suggesting that contact between Israel and Syria continues to be indirect.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the first meeting between leaders of their countries in over 25 years. Trump had announced earlier that U.S. sanctions on the country would be lifted.

Following the meeting, Trump said he thought al-Sharaa could stabilize Syria, claiming that the new Syrian leader intended to join the Abraham Accords once this was achieved.

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Turkey.

According to the U.S. State Department, Rubio vowed to begin the process of sanctions relief soon and welcomed “the Syrian government's calls for peace with Israel, efforts to end Iran's influence in Syria, commitment to ascertaining the fate of U.S. citizens missing or killed in Syria, and elimination of all chemical weapons.”

Israel was initially highly concerned when the now-dissolved terror group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – led for years by al-Sharaa under the alias “al-Jolani” – seized power in Syria.

Axios News cited Israeli sources who said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu specifically asked Trump not to lift the remaining sanctions and voiced concern over Turkey’s expanding influence in Syria during their last meeting in April.

However, in a sharp change of rhetoric, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said last Sunday that Israel wants to maintain “good relations” with the Syrian government, which he called “a jihadist Islamic terrorist group” less than three months ago.

Channel 12 reported that while Israel remains highly cautious, it did not oppose the lifting of sanctions, viewing it as a potential opportunity to pull Syria toward the U.S.-aligned Sunni moderate axis, an outcome that could also defuse tensions with Turkey.