Overview

• Israeli and Syrian officials have held multiple face-to-face meetings in recent weeks to agree on joint security measures along their shared border.
• Senior Syrian security official Ahmad al-Dalati, now governor of the Quneitra and Sweida provinces, is leading Damascus’s negotiating team.
• On May 14 in Riyadh, President Trump announced the lifting of all longstanding US sanctions on Syria following a meeting with interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa.
• Sharaa has endorsed a return to the terms of the 1974 Golan Heights ceasefire agreement and taken steps to reassure Israel by detaining members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and approving the handover of Eli Cohen’s personal effects.
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Damascus provided assurances that it will not serve as a launchpad for attacks against Israel, reflecting Washington’s new policy of encouraging Syrian-Israeli engagement.