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Syria FM meets Mossad chief in Jordan: sources
Syria confirmed US-mediated talks with Israel in Jordan on Sunday, marking the first high-level contact in months. The meeting aimed to ease tensions after Israeli strikes and address mechanisms to prevent further conflict. Sources said Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani met with Mossad chief Roman Gofman, though the meeting was not officially confirmed.
Syria said on Sunday it held US-mediated talks with Israel in Jordan, focusing on de-escalation after recent Israeli strikes and on keeping Syria out of tensions between Israel and Turkey, an ally of Damascus. The high-level negotiations came after the sides in January agreed to establish an intelligence-sharing mechanism as they edge towards a security agreement.
The talks also came after Israel bombed the disused Abu Duhur airbase in Syria's northwest earlier in the week, claiming it wanted to avert Turkish troops deploying to the facility. Ankara denied any visit to the site.
Syrian state news agency SANA quoted a diplomatic source at the foreign ministry saying "a high-level Syrian delegation headed by the foreign minister and including the general and military intelligence chiefs" met a high-level Israeli delegation "under American mediation and hosted by Jordan." The meeting was "part of efforts aiming at de-escalation after recent Israeli bombardment of Syrian territory, escalating tensions in southern Syria, and in support of stability in Syria and the region," the source said. Discussions also addressed "efforts aimed at bringing closer the viewpoints between Turkey and Israel and ensuring the current tension between the two countries are not reflected on Syria territory."
Meeting Between al-Shaibani and Gofman
A diplomatic source and a Syrian government source told AFP that Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani met with the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, Roman Gofman. They discussed issues such as establishing "a special operations room" in Jordan under US supervision to prevent any confrontation in Syria, including involving Turkey. The meeting was first reported by Axios and was not confirmed officially by either side; a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told AFP they had no comment.
US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack slammed Israel's attack on the airbase as an "unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an ally of Damascus, have traded barbs since the incident.
Background of Negotiations
The Syrian government source said the talks on Sunday were the first negotiations between Israel and Syria in some time, while the diplomatic source said they were the first in several months. Israel and Syria's new authorities have held several rounds of direct talks, and after negotiations in Paris in January they agreed to establish a dedicated communication cell under US supervision to lower bilateral tensions. An Arab diplomat in Damascus said a joint operations room based in Jordan would follow issues including security coordination and border control.
Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on Syria since the December 2024 toppling of Bashar al-Assad. Israel also sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights and has carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory, vowing to keep troops in a "security zone" in southern Syria. The talks came a day after Israel struck what it said was a militant in southern Syria; Damascus said one person was wounded and called it a "flagrant violation."
Israel captured most of the Golan Heights in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and later annexed it, a move recognized only by the United States and, this month, Colombia. US President Donald Trump has been pushing for a security deal between Syria and Israel, but Israel remains distrustful of Syria's authorities.
Doubts and Priorities
Foreign Minister al-Shaibani told Reuters on Saturday that Damascus expected security negotiations with Israel to resume soon, although he added that there was a lack of trust between them. Talks had been suspended since the start of the Iran war, while Syria cut off contact entirely after Israeli strikes on Syria's Abu al-Duhur airbase last week, according to Shaibani.
Washington has for more than a year sought to broker a security agreement between Israel and the government of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Shaibani said the two sides had agreed on paper to "almost everything" around the beginning of the year, including arrangements for security zones in southern Syria and a buffer zone where only United Nations forces would be present, but Damascus doubted Israel's willingness to implement the agreement.
The Israeli prime minister's office did not reply to a request for comment on Shaibani's remarks.
At Sunday's meeting, SANA said, Syria indicated that its immediate priorities remained an Israeli withdrawal to positions held before Bashar al-Assad's overthrow on December 8, 2024, and the full restoration of a 1974 disengagement agreement. Damascus also told the Israeli delegation it would not accept arrangements restricting its right to rebuild its armed forces or determine its alliances. Syria reiterated that the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights were Syrian territory but said discussions over the region's final status were premature.
Perspectives
Syria: The Syrian government, through SANA, emphasized the talks as de-escalation efforts and reaffirmed its priorities of Israeli withdrawal to pre-Assad positions and full restoration of the 1974 disengagement agreement. Foreign Minister al-Shaibani expressed a lack of trust in Israel, stating "We do not trust Israel currently," and emphasized Syria's right to rebuild its armed forces and determine its alliances.
Israel: Israel did not officially confirm the meeting or comment on the talks. However, in the context of the airbase strike, Israel claimed it acted to avert Turkish troops deploying to the facility, and its prime minister's office declined to comment on the negotiations. Israel has consistently said its strikes on Syrian territory are necessary to protect its security.
How each outlet told it
France 24 — English
Framing: Emphasizes Syria's official framing of the talks as centering on de-escalation and avoiding Israel-Turkey tensions, leaving out the specifics of the intelligence meeting. — Neutral/factual, using phrases like 'edging towards a security agreement' and 'tensions high'.
Facts Included:
Syria said it held US-mediated talks with Israel in Jordan on Sunday focusing on de-escalation after recent Israeli strikes.
Talks aimed to keep Syria out of tensions between Israel and Turkey, an ally of Damascus.
Israel bombed the disused Abu Duhur airbase earlier in the week, claiming it wanted to avert Turkish troops deploying to the facility; Ankara denied any visit.
Syrian state news agency SANA quoted a diplomatic source saying a high-level Syrian delegation headed by the foreign minister met a high-level Israeli delegation under American mediation hosted by Jordan.
Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani met Mossad chief Roman Gofman.
Discussed issues such as establishing 'a special operations room' in Jordan under US supervision to prevent any confrontation in Syria, including involving Turkey.
US envoy Tom Barrack slammed Israel's attack on the airbase as an 'unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability'.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have traded barbs since the incident.
The talks were the first between Israel and Syria in some time (per Syrian government source) and first in several months (per diplomatic source).
SANA said discussions addressed establishing practical mechanisms to stop Israeli attacks and reviving negotiations for a security agreement.
In January, sides agreed to establish a dedicated communication cell under US supervision to lower bilateral tensions.
An Arab diplomat in Damascus said a joint operations room based in Jordan would follow issues including security coordination and border control.
Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on Syria since December 2024 toppling of Bashar al-Assad.
Israel sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights.
Israel has carried out repeated incursions deeper into Syrian territory and vowed to keep troops in a 'security zone' in southern Syria.
Talks came a day after Israel struck what it said was a militant in southern Syria; Damascus said one person wounded, called it a 'flagrant violation'.
Israel captured Golan Heights in 1967 and annexed it; move only recognized by US and this month Colombia.
Trump has been pushing for a security deal but Israel remains distrustful of Syria's authorities.
Framing: Headline is unrelated to Syria talks, instead leading with 'Related Crimes Executed in Eastern Libya' which does not match article content. Possibly a metadata error. — Neutral but includes direct quotes from Shaibani expressing distrust, giving a more skeptical tone.
Facts Included:
Syria and Israel held high-level, US-mediated talks in Jordan on Sunday aimed at easing tensions following recent Israeli strikes, per SANA.
Talks focused on practical mechanisms to halt Israeli strikes, arrests and targeted operations, and reviving negotiations towards a security agreement.
Discussed efforts to ease tensions between Israel and Türkiye.
Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani met Mossad chief Roman Gofman, per AFP sources.
Shaibani told Reuters on Saturday that Damascus expected security negotiations to resume soon, but there was lack of trust.
Talks had been suspended since start of Iran war; Syria cut contact after Israeli strikes on airbase last week, according to Shaibani.
Washington has for more than a year sought to broker a security agreement between Israel and Syria's government.
Shaibani said sides had 'agreed on paper to almost everything' around beginning of year, including security zones and buffer zone, but Damascus doubted Israel's willingness.
Israeli PM office did not reply to request for comment.
SANA: Syria's immediate priorities were Israeli withdrawal to positions before Assad's overthrow and full restoration of 1974 disengagement agreement.
Damascus told Israeli delegation it would not accept arrangements restricting its right to rebuild armed forces or determine alliances.
Syria reiterated Golan were Syrian territory but said final status discussions premature.
Israel has carried out repeated strikes on Syrian military sites since Assad's fall.
Syria has denied posing threat and demanded end to strikes.
Syria and Israel technically at war since 1948. Israel captured Golan in 1967, annexed, recognized by US but not most international community.
Shaibani: Syria respects Israel's security concerns but Israel must respect Syria's, including use of airspace, raids, arrests.
Security deal would include several security zones, buffer zone with UN only, and others with varying Syrian force presence.
Shaibani: Israel sought to evade implementation; 'We did not see they had the real will to reach an agreement.'
Priority to 'stop Israeli aggression even before reaching a security agreement'.
US envoy Tom Barrack said Washington working to establish mechanism to prevent conflict among Syria, Türkiye, Israel.
Shaibani said no agreement yet on mechanism, must stop attacks and pave way for security deal, not entrench occupation.
Negotiations frozen since start of Iran war; contact cut after airbase strike.
Shaibani: 'We do not trust Israel currently.'
'Israel has tried to maintain its security through brute force and it hasn’t succeeded.'
No date set for negotiations; US pressuring Israel to return to dialogue.
Shaibani: 'It’s very hard to bet on Israel.'
Syria extending hand for understandings, peace, diplomacy.
Also covers unrelated stories: Sudanese dialogue rejection, Egypt-China military exercises.
Framing: Headline focuses on the meeting between Syria FM and Mossad chief, using 'sources' to indicate unofficial confirmation, omitting the de-escalation context. — Neutral, with a cautious tone due to unconfirmed meeting.
Facts Included:
Syria’s Foreign Minister met Mossad chief in Jordan on Sunday, two sources told AFP.
Talks aimed to ease tensions after Israeli attack on Abu Duhur airbase.
Talks restarted negotiations between Israel and Syria’s new authorities.
In January, sides agreed to establish intelligence-sharing mechanism.
Israel bombed Abu Duhur base on Tuesday, claiming it wanted to avert Turkish troops; Ankara denied.
Diplomatic source and Syrian government source said al-Shaibani and Gofman discussed establishing 'a special operations room' in Jordan under US supervision to prevent confrontation including involving Turkey.
Meeting first reported by Axios, not confirmed officially; Netanyahu's spokesperson had no comment.
US envoy Tom Barrack slammed Israel's attack as 'unnecessary escalation'.
Netanyahu and Erdogan have traded barbs.
Syrian government source said talks were first in some time; diplomatic source said first in several months.
Discussed Israeli incursions into southern Syria.
Israel has launched hundreds of strikes since December 2024 toppling of Assad.
Israel sent troops into UN-patrolled buffer zone on Golan Heights.
Israel carried out repeated incursions and vowed to keep troops in 'security zone'.
Talks came a day after Israel struck a militant; Damascus said one wounded, 'flagrant violation'.
Golan Heights captured in 1967, annexed; only recognized by US and Colombia.
Trump pushing for security deal but Israel distrustful.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimSyria said it held US-mediated talks with Israel in Jordan on Sunday, focusing on de-escalation after recent Israeli strikes.
ClaimIsrael bombed the disused Abu Duhur airbase in Syria earlier in the week, claiming it wanted to avert Turkish troops deploying to the facility; Ankara denied any visit.
ClaimSyrian state news agency SANA quoted a diplomatic source saying that a high-level Syrian delegation headed by the foreign minister met a high-level Israeli delegation under American mediation, hosted by Jordan.
ClaimThe two sides discussed establishing 'a special operations room' in Jordan under US supervision to prevent any confrontation in Syria, including involving Turkey.
ClaimThe talks were the first between Israel and Syria in some time, according to a Syrian government source; a diplomatic source said they were the first in several months.
ClaimThe talks came a day after Israel struck what it said was a militant in southern Syria; Damascus said one person was wounded and called it a 'flagrant violation'.
ClaimIsrael captured most of the Golan Heights in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and later annexed it, a move recognized only by the United States and, this month, Colombia.
ClaimTalks had been suspended since the start of the Iran war; Syria cut contact after Israeli strikes on the Abu al-Duhur airbase, according to Shaibani.
ClaimShaibani said the two sides had agreed on paper to 'almost everything' around the beginning of the year, including security zones and a buffer zone, but Damascus doubted Israel's willingness to implement the agreement.
ClaimAt Sunday's meeting, SANA said, Syria indicated that its immediate priorities remained an Israeli withdrawal to positions held before Assad's overthrow and the full restoration of the 1974 disengagement agreement.
ClaimDamascus told the Israeli delegation it would not accept arrangements restricting its right to rebuild its armed forces or determine its alliances, according to SANA.
ClaimSyria reiterated that the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights were Syrian territory but said discussions over the region's final status were premature, according to the SANA report.
ClaimSyria and Israel have technically been at war since 1948. Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, a move recognized by the United States but not by most of the international community.
ClaimIn his Reuters interview, Shaibani said Syria respected Israel's security concerns, but that Israel must respect those of Syria, including Israel's use of its airspace, Israeli raids and arrests in the south.
ClaimShaibani said that around the beginning of the year, the sides had agreed on paper to 'almost everything' regarding a security deal that would require Israel to stop attacking Syria and was tied to its withdrawal from territory seized after Assad fell.
ClaimThe deal would include several security zones in Syrian territory near the Israeli border, including a buffer zone where only the United Nations would be present, and others where Syrian forces would deploy in varying degrees of force.
ClaimShaibani said the priority now is to 'stop Israeli aggression even before reaching a security agreement'. Then perhaps they can open the topics of peace and the Golan.
ClaimUS special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said on Tuesday that Washington was working to establish a mechanism to prevent conflict among Syria, Türkiye and Israel.
ClaimShaibani said there was no agreement yet on the mechanism, which he said must stop attacks and pave the way for the security deal rather than 'entrenching ... Israeli occupation.'
ClaimShaibani said negotiations over the security agreement had been frozen since the start of the Iran war, but he expected them to restart. Contact between Syria and Israel was cut after the airbase strike.
ClaimShaibani said: 'Israel has tried to maintain its security through brute force and it hasn’t succeeded.' He added that he believed negotiations would resume soon.
ClaimAsked how optimistic he was, Shaibani said: 'It’s very hard to bet on Israel.' But Syria had 'very great hope' of building stable relationships with its neighbors.
ClaimThe meeting was first reported by Axios and was not confirmed officially by either side; a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told AFP they had no comment.
ClaimIsrael and Syria's new authorities have held several rounds of direct talks, and after negotiations in Paris in January they agreed to establish a dedicated communication cell under US supervision to lower bilateral tensions.
ClaimThe talks came after Israel on Tuesday bombed the disused Abu Duhur base in Syria, claiming it wanted to avert Turkish troops deploying to the facility.