Damascus and Jerusalem hold US-brokered talks in Amman to ease regional friction

Syria and Israel held US-mediated negotiations in Jordan on Sunday, focusing on reducing tensions after recent Israeli strikes on Syrian territory. Damascus emphasized its desire to remain uninvolved in the broader Israel-Turkey dispute, while discussions also covered establishing a joint operations room under US supervision to prevent confrontations in Syria. The talks follow an earlier agreement on intelligence-sharing between the two sides.

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The Amman meeting follows a January round in Paris where both sides agreed to establish a dedicated communication cell under US supervision. Sunday's delegation included Syria's foreign minister alongside its general and military intelligence chiefs, while Israel sent Mossad director Roman Gofman. A proposed joint operations room in Jordan, overseen by the US, would handle security coordination and border control matters.

The immediate catalyst was Israel's strike on the Abu Duhur airbase, which Israel said was intended to prevent Turkish troops from deploying there—a claim Ankara denied. US envoy Tom Barrack criticized the strike as an unnecessary escalation. Since Assad's fall in December 2024, Israel has conducted hundreds of strikes on Syrian territory and moved forces into a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the G