When US President Donald agreed to lift sanctions on Syria, he placed a condition on the civil-war torn nation's new leader. Interim President and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmad al-Sharaa was told he must normalise ties with Israel.
And it looks like Sharaa wants to make peace with his neighbour too. Reports cite secret talks between Israeli and Syrian officials to facilitate normalisation of ties and new regime joining the Abraham Accords.
The Abraham Accords is a treaty negotiated by the United States between Israel and its Arab neighbours -- the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco. The accords signed in 2020, during Trump's first term in the White House, established diplomatic and economic ties between the nations and Israel.
Egypt was the first to sign a peace treaty with Israel after the Camp David Accords, back in 1978, establishing a precedent for normalization of Arab-Israeli ties.
The US was in the process of convincing Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords, when Israel's war in Gaza, following the October 2023 Hamas attack, stalled the normalisation process.
But, both Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been engaging with Israel to negotiate a truce in Gaza.
That left Syria, the only Arab ally of Palestine that was yet to establish bilateral ties with Israel. Under former dictator Bashar al-Assad, and his father Hafiz, Syria had completely rejected the idea.
But, things have clearly changed after Assad was ousted in an HTS coup.
Soon after taking over Damascus, Sharaa vowed that his regime would no longer allow Syrian land to be used against Israel.
After Sharaa met Trump in Saudi Arabia, Israeli news Channel 12 reported that UAE-initiated negotiations between Israel and Syria had been going on for months.
Sharaa too confirmed last week that security-related talks were being held through mediators, though he did not comment on potential diplomatic relations.
Though Netanyahu expressed skepticism, even Qatar stepped in to assure Israel that the Syrian leader was not seeking a confrontation.
According to Channel 12, the latest rounds of talks were held in Azerbaijan, where Israel was represented by IDF Operations Director, Maj. Gen. Oded Basyuk. Turkish officials were also reportedly present in the meeting.
Middle-East watchers are hopeful a potential deal between Tel Aviv and Damascus would go a long way towards normalising ties between Israel and Turkey as well.
Remember, Turkish President Erdogan holds a lot of influence in new Syria. Especially after Turkiye-backed militia Syrian National Army helped HTS overthrow Assad.
The change in regime pulled Damascus away from Tehran and towards Ankara.
Syria no longer provides passage for Iran's arms and ammunition supply to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
