The meeting between a Syrian delegation led by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and the Israeli side, with U.S. mediation in Jordan, was not the first contact between the two parties. However, it marked a shift from exchanging indirect messages to open dialogue. The talks took place against the backdrop of recent Israeli strikes on Syria and rising tensions in the south of the country. Their main goal was to reduce the risk of further escalation.
After Syria gained independence in 1946, Damascus took part in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and opposed the partition plan for Palestine. Following the defeat of the Arab armies, a Syrian-Israeli armistice was concluded under UN auspices on July 20, 1949. It provided for the withdrawal of forces from occupied territories and the creation of demilitarized zones, but these areas soon became a постоянный source of disputes. Israel sought to establish control over them, while Syria viewed such actions as violations of the agreement, and armed clashes continued throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
After the Ba'ath Party came to power in 1963, Syria intensified its ideological and military confrontation with Israel, supporting Palestinian fighters and opening training camps. In 1965, Israeli spy Eli Cohen, operating under the name Kamel Amin Thaabet, was exposed and executed in Damascus. Tensions peaked during the 1967 war, when Israel seized the Golan Heights and the city of Quneitra. Disputes over reports that Quneitra had fallen even before Israeli forces had actually arrived intensified the chaos and contributed to the Syrian army's disorderly retreat.
After the defeat, the Sa'iqa organization was established to wage a people's war against Israel, but it also became an arena for a power struggle between the political and military wings of the Syrian leadership. In 1970, this confrontation ended with Hafez al-Assad coming to power. During the 1973 war, Syrian forces initially advanced on the Golan Heights, but Israel regained its positions with support from the air and ground. The 1974 Agreement on the Disengagement of Forces, reached through U.S. mediation, returned Quneitra to Syria and created a UN-controlled buffer zone, but the Golan Heights remained occupied. After that, the border remained one of the quietest lines of contact in the Middle East for nearly five decades.
Despite the relative calm along the border, Syria continued to confront Israel through Lebanon, first supporting Palestinian groups and later Hezbollah. Negotiations took place at the 1991 Madrid Conference, in Washington and at Wye River in 1992–1996, and in 2000 Farouk al-Sharaa met Ehud Barak under the mediation of Bill Clinton. However, the parties failed to agree on the terms of an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. Israel also carried out strikes against targets in Syria, including an alleged nuclear facility at al-Kibar near Deir ez-Zor, which was destroyed in 2007; Israel officially acknowledged the operation only in 2018.
After the Syrian uprising began in 2011, Israel significantly intensified its airstrikes, seeking to prevent the expansion of Iran's presence and the transfer of advanced weapons. Strikes targeted the airports of Damascus and Aleppo, as well as the Iranian consulate in Damascus in 2024. After Bashar al-Assad's government fell and a new administration came to power, Israel carried out hundreds of attacks on military facilities, warehouses, airports and maritime infrastructure. It also advanced in the south beyond the buffer zone, declaring that the previous agreement was no longer in force. Against this backdrop, strikes on the presidential palace, the Defense Ministry, security facilities and strategic infrastructure turned the latest Syrian-Israeli contact into an attempt to contain the escalation and find a path toward a more lasting ceasefire.
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What role does the disengagement zone on the Golan Heights play today, and how is the UN peacekeeping mission established after the 1974 agreement organized? — The disengagement zone separates Israeli and Syrian forces and limits their presence on both sides of the 1974 ceasefire line. Compliance with the regime is monitored by the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which patrols the zone, oversees adherence to military restrictions and reports to the UN Security Council. The mission does not have a broad peace-enforcement mandate; its primary task is to observe and maintain the ceasefire regime. Its work has been complicated by the Syrian civil war and security threats, so some observers are stationed outside the disengagement zone, while patrols are conducted with enhanced security measures.
Why did the return of Quneitra to Syria in 1974 not resolve the question of the status of the Golan Heights? — Quneitra and the adjoining area were returned to Syrian control under the disengagement agreement, but this was a military agreement, not a peace treaty. It established a ceasefire line without determining final sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Israel retained control over most of the Golan, while Syria continued to demand the territory's full return. The issue therefore remained part of the broader, unresolved Syrian-Israeli conflict.
How did Syria's support for Palestinian groups and Hezbollah in Lebanon affect the nature of the Syrian-Israeli confrontation after the 1970s? — It transformed the conflict from a primarily interstate confrontation into a more complex struggle involving non-state armed actors. Damascus used its support for Palestinian organizations and Hezbollah as a tool to pressure Israel and preserve its influence in Lebanon, while avoiding a direct, full-scale war. For Israel, this meant having to counter not only the Syrian army but also missile, guerrilla and cross-border threats. As a result, the confrontation involved indirect clashes, support for allies, operations in Lebanon and strikes on facilities linked to Syria and Iran, while the formal ceasefire regime on the Golan Heights remained in place.
Full version: From Hostility to a Meeting: How Did Syrian-Israeli Relations Reach This Point?