A high-level meeting between Syrian and Israeli officials is set to take place in Baku on Thursday, July 31, to address security issues in southern Syria, a diplomat told AFP. This meeting, involving Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, follows a similar encounter held in Paris last week. According to the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, the talks will follow an unprecedented visit by al-Shaibani to Moscow scheduled for the same day. Syria and Israel have technically remained at war since 1948.
The Paris discussions focused largely on “recent security developments and efforts to prevent further escalation in southern Syria,” as reported by Syrian state television. The meeting came in the wake of deadly clashes in the Druze-majority Sweida province, where over 1,400 people were killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The violence began with confrontations between local Druze militias and Sunni Bedouin tribes but later escalated, involving Syrian government forces and Israeli intervention. Israel stated that its actions aimed to protect the Druze community.
Israeli forces reportedly struck the Syrian presidential palace and the military headquarters in Damascus. The United States, a close ally of Israel that has also voiced support for Syrian authorities, brokered a ceasefire between the two parties on the night of July 18.
Prior to the Sweida violence, Syrian and Israeli officials had already held talks in Baku on July 12. Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since 1967 and formally annexed the territory in 1981—a move not recognized internationally.
In 1974, the two countries signed a disengagement agreement following the Yom Kippur War, creating a UN-monitored buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Since the ousting of longtime Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel has deployed forces to the buffer zone and carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Russia announced that Syria’s Foreign Minister would visit Moscow—marking the first official visit of a Syrian official from the new government following Assad’s removal during last year’s rebel offensive.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told the state-run TASS news agency that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would host al-Shaibani for bilateral talks in Moscow on Thursday. The agenda includes Syrian-Russian relations as well as broader international and regional issues.
Syria has not issued an official statement about the visit. While Assad had long been a close ally of Moscow, Russia did not intervene when insurgents launched a successful offensive last year. Assad was ultimately forced to flee to Russia.
In a Facebook statement, Assad claimed he wanted to remain in Syria and continue fighting, but was evacuated by Russian forces after insurgents stormed Damascus. He said he was flown to Russia’s Hmeimim airbase in Latakia on the morning of December 8, just hours after the capital fell under attack.
Despite having been adversaries during the civil war, the new Syrian leadership under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has adopted a pragmatic stance toward Moscow. A Russian delegation visited Damascus in January, and in February President Vladimir Putin spoke with al-Sharaa in what the Kremlin described as a “business-like and constructive” conversation.
Some Russian military presence remains along the Syrian coast, and Moscow has reportedly continued to send oil shipments to the country.
Al-Sharaa publicly thanked Russia for its “firm opposition to Israeli strikes and repeated violations of Syria’s sovereignty” after Israel intervened earlier this month in clashes between government troops and armed Druze factions.
