US special envoy Tom Barrack is quietly overseeing Syrian-Israeli talks in Paris that, Washington hopes, could lead to normalisation of relations between the two countries.
The establishment of diplomatic ties between the two hostile neighbours would be a seismic shift for the region.
For now, however, stumbling blocks remain as Syria pushes back against Israeli demands to demilitarise a part of Syrian territory that stretches from the border with Israel to Damascus.
In exchange, Israel would withdraw from a buffer zone in the Golan Heights that it has occupied since December 2024. Israel said it had security concerns as rebel forces took over Syria, ending more than five decades of rule by the Assad family.
The Syrian view is that any agreement signed with Isr
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