Tel Aviv / PNN / 

Israeli website i24NEWS reported, citing a Syrian source close to transitional president Ahmad al-Sharaa, that Damascus is showing openness to a US-backed security initiative coordinated with Israel, which would include the establishment of a joint mechanism for security and military cooperation.

According to i24NEWS, the initiative aims to “enhance stability in southern Syria, dismantle outlawed militias, and deepen Syrian–American relations”.

The source said Syria also does not object to the idea of Israel opening a liaison office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, describing it as an unprecedented step after decades of rupture and hostility between the two countries, and one that could signal a shift towards direct, albeit limited, coordination.

The same source revealed that Israel has asked Washington to delay concluding a separate security agreement between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in order to allow Israel time to arrange its own security understandings with the Syrian government.

Israel is believed to be seeking to strengthen its negotiating position by exploiting existing tensions between Damascus and the SDF, as well as unrest in the predominantly Druze province of Sweida.

These developments follow a meeting held in Paris under US mediation that brought together Syrian and Israeli officials. A joint statement issued after the meeting said the two sides agreed to establish a joint liaison mechanism in the form of a permanent contact cell to coordinate intelligence-sharing, reduce military escalation and engage diplomatically, as well as to explore potential commercial opportunities, under US supervision.