US envoy to Syria says Damascus is 'carrying out quiet talks with Israel'

The US special envoy to Syria, Thomas Barrack, has said that the Syrian government has already commenced quiet talks with Israel on a range of issues.

In an interview, Barrack stressed that the Syrian government is not interested in war with Israel and called for Syrian authorities to be given a chance to present their new approach

The comments come after Israeli media revealed this week that senior Syrian officials reportedly said that "direct daily dialogue has been taking place with Israel in recent days".

A Syrian official familiar with the details of the talks confirmed that Damascus is not ruling out the possibility of reaching a peace deal with Israel, before the end of US President Donald Trump’s term.

The latest developments come after Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa recently said that indirect talks have been taking place with Israel through international mediators.

In a meeting with dignitaries and officials from the Quneitra governorate and the occupied Golan Heights, al-Sharaa said that Damascus was also working to stop continued Israeli attacks in southern Syria.

Normalisation ?

Earlier this week, Israel’s national security chief, Tzachi Hanegbi, further said that there has been direct contact between Israel and the Syrian government, noting that the two sides have been discussing the possibility of normalising relations.

In a speech made during the Israeli Knesset’s foreign affairs and defence committee session, Hanegbi said he is personally overseeing security and political coordination with Damascus, suggesting that talks have moved beyond the point of indirect negotiations.

The head of Israel’s national security council said that both Syria and now Lebanon could potentially normalise relations with Israel, following the Abraham Accords signed with other Arab countries in the region.

The prospect of normalising times also coincides with comments from Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, who said in a podcast interview this week: "I’m very upbeat about the potential for an Abraham Accord with Syria and Lebanon, and that may actually precede Saudi Arabia. It’ll happen with a wink from Saudi Arabia."

He claims that the two countries are still on that path but are facing difficulties due to Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza.

Despite the comments, many officials in Lebanon have warned against attempts to pressure Beirut into normalising ties with Tel Aviv. The issue remains largely unaccepted in Lebanese society, which views Israel as a permanent enemy.

The US has for years mediated talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia to forge a normalisation deal, but this has not materialised yet. The kingdom's neighbours the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalised ties with Israel in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords, as did Morocco.

Riyadh has repeatedly said it will only normalise ties with Israel if Palestinians are granted a sovereign state, something the Israeli far-right and ultranationalists have refused.