High-level talks come after Israel struck Syria’s Abu al-Duhur airbase, amid growing concern over Turkish military influence in the region.
by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Mossad chief Roman Gofman reportedly met Sunday with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in a U.S.-mediated effort to calm rising tensions after Israel’s recent airstrike on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in northern Syria.
The Times of Israel, citing Syrian state media and regional reports, said the meeting was aimed at preventing a wider escalation between Israel and Syria following last week’s strike. Reuters also reported that the talks took place in Jordan and were intended to revive stalled security negotiations, including discussions over Israeli military activity in Syria and possible arrangements tied to the 1974 disengagement framework.
The diplomatic push followed Israel’s strike on the Abu al-Duhur airbase, located in Idlib province, which Israeli officials have linked to concerns over Turkey’s expanding role in Syria. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly warned Damascus before the attack that Israel would not accept Turkish military entrenchment near its borders. Reuters previously reported that Gofman and Shaibani spoke days before the strike about Israel’s concerns over Turkish troop deployments, weapons transfers, and drones.
Syrian officials have denied that the airbase was being turned into a Turkish base, while Israel has maintained that the strike was necessary to protect its security interests. The Jerusalem Post reported that the strike was intended to prevent the placement of Turkish radar and air-defense systems at the site.
The United States has been working to keep tensions from spilling into a broader Israel-Turkey confrontation inside Syria. U.S. envoy Tom Barrack criticized the strike as an unnecessary escalation, while Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz pushed back, saying Israel had shared intelligence and issued warnings before acting.
The talks mark another sign of the shifting regional order after the fall of Bashar Assad in 2024, with Syria’s new leadership seeking to rebuild its military and foreign alliances while Israel works to prevent hostile forces from gaining a foothold near its borders.
For Israel, the concern is not only Syria’s military recovery but also the possibility that Turkey could establish strategic depth inside Syria. For Damascus, the issue is sovereignty and the demand that Israel halt strikes and return to earlier understandings along the border.
While the reported meeting does not signal peace, it does show that even adversaries may be forced to talk when the region edges too close to a broader war.
Worthy News Analysis
The meeting underscores a dangerous reality in the Middle East: Syria is no longer only a Syrian battlefield. It has become a pressure point where Israel, Turkey, Iran’s remnants, the United States, and a new Damascus government are all testing the limits of power.
Israel’s leaders appear determined not to allow another hostile military architecture to emerge on their northern frontier. Syria, meanwhile, is trying to reassert itself after years of collapse. Turkey sees opportunity. Washington is trying to keep the pieces from igniting.
For believers watching events around Israel and Syria, the moment is another reminder that the region remains prophetically and geopolitically central. The nations continue to maneuver around Jerusalem and Israel’s borders, but Scripture reminds us that the Lord is not caught off guard by the shaking of kingdoms.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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