• Syria and Israel hold in-person talks aimed at reducing border tensions.
• Meetings facilitated by U.S. interests support potential normalization.
• Direct talks build on back-channel communications since Assad's ouster.
• Israeli airstrikes have decreased, indicating a shift in military strategy.
• Syria's leadership expresses willingness to reestablish relations with Israel.

Israel and Syria have recently engaged in direct, face-to-face meetings focused on security to calm tensions and avoid conflict in their border region, according to Reuters. The significance of these talks lies in the historical enmity between the two nations since Israel's establishment and the subsequent occupation of the Golan Heights in 1967. These discussions represent a potential shift as the new Islamist rulers in Damascus seek to establish relations with Israel under U.S. encouragement, which has also scaled back its bombardment of Syrian territories.

Leading the Syrian delegation is Ahmad al-Dalati, a senior security official and governor of the Quneitra province, which borders the Golan Heights. The discussions reportedly build on prior back-channel conversations that followed the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in December by Islamist groups, highlighting a nuanced diplomatic effort amidst longstanding hostilities, as cited by Middle East Eye and Dawn.

Following a pivotal meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Syrian interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, the dynamic of U.S. relations with Syria is reportedly shifting, as Trump has suggested the potential lifting of sanctions on the country. This development could facilitate Syria's re-entry into the international community as the leadership expresses intentions to prevent Syria from posing threats to Israel and enhance stability in the region, as articulated in statements by officials from Reuters and Middle East Eye.

Importantly, while these direct talks primarily aim at security concerns—such as managing border incursions and military confrontations—sources indicate that they may lead to broader political discussions in the future. As noted, for now, the focus is on ensuring peace rather than normalization of relations, although such normalization has been hinted at as a long-term goal by both Syrian and U.S. officials, according to Dawn.