Russia is reportedly working behind the scenes, with US approval, to mediate a security agreement between Syria and Israel, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan said on Wednesday.
This came as Saudi Arabia warned Israel that its continued incursions, attacks, and intervention in Syria is pushing away the prospect of a normalisation deal between Riyadh and Tel Aviv.
Kan quoted an Israeli security source as saying that Moscow and Damascus are working to restore and strengthen their relations. Russia previously provided critical military backing to the regime of deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad, and many Syrians still view it with suspicion.
However, in a sign of improving relations, Russia has recently deployed forces and military equipment in the Latakia region, having previously reduced its presence there after the December 2024 fall of the Assad regime.
The same source said that Moscow is seeking to redeploy Syrian army forces in southern Syria near the border with Israel, similar to the situation that prevailed before December 2024.
Israel has however said that the whole of southern Syria needs to be demilitarised. The same source said that Israel prefers allowing a Russian presence in the area rather than potential Turkish attempts to expand their influence there.
Turkey backed the opposition to the Assad regime during the civil war, and the new Syrian government continues to receive support from Ankara.
Another Israeli security source said that gaps still remain between Israel and Syria despite Russian mediation, though he added that some limited progress has been made in recent weeks. Previous talks between Israel and Syria had been mediated by Azerbaijan.
The Israeli YNet news website said on Wednesday that Syria will be among the topics US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to discuss when they meet at the end of this month in Mar-a-Lago.
The Trump administration has taken a favourable view of Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, recently acceding to his request to remove stringent Caesar Act sanctions on Syria.
Kan had reported last week that Israel asked the Trump administration not to lift all sanctions imposed on Syria, but the request was rejected.
Saudi anger at Israel’s aggression
Trump is expected to press Netanyahu to give Sharaa “another chance” and reach a security deal. Since December 2024, Israel has carried out regular strikes and incursions into Syria, occupying territory beyond the Syrian Golan Heights, which it captured in 1967.
Kan also said that Saudi Arabia continues to harden its position regarding a potential normalisation agreement with Israel, making clear to the US that Israel’s behaviour in Syria is distancing the possibility of a Saudi-Israeli normalisation deal.
This comes in addition to Riyadh’s longstanding linking of normalisation with the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The Israeli broadcaster quoted an unnamed Saudi royal official as saying that in recent days Saudi Arabia has become convinced that “Israel does not want a stable state in Syria, but rather wants it divided.”
The official added that Riyadh believes Israel is not interested in peace but wants war, and that its behaviour toward Syria, Lebanon, and the West Bank is undermining normalisation efforts—a message that has been conveyed to the US.
He added: “It is true that normalisation is linked to the Palestinian issue, but it seems that Israel now also wants to control southern Syria, which will likewise be reflected in the course of normalisation with Saudi Arabia”.