Days after the attack: Mossad chief and Syrian Foreign Minister met secretly
Days after the Israeli attack on a Syrian airbase and the spike in tensions between the countries, Barak Ravid reported that Mossad chief Roman Gofman met with Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shibani in an attempt to prevent further escalation.
Senior Israeli and Syrian officials held a high-level meeting today (Sunday) in an attempt to lower the flames between the countries, a few days after the Israeli attack on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in northern Syria. This was reported by Barak Ravid on the Axios network, citing two sources familiar with the details. According to the report, the meeting was attended by Mossad chief Roman Gofman and Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shibani. This is an unusual meeting that takes place after the attack on the Syrian base led to a sharp rise in tensions between Jerusalem and Damascus.
The meeting comes after Israel attacked the Abu al-Duhur base in northwestern Syria on August 18. In Israel, it was claimed that the attack was intended to prevent a Turkish military establishment at the site, and that Damascus was about to allow Turkish forces to deploy at the base in a way that could have posed a security threat to Israel. Syria and Turkey rejected the claims.
Al-Shibani claimed after the attack that Damascus had clarified to Israel in advance that there was no intention to establish a permanent Turkish base at the Abu al-Duhur site or to station Turkish forces there on a permanent basis. According to him, the activity at the site was intended for the rehabilitation of infrastructure damaged during the war and for the use of the Syrian Air Force.
The incident called into question the security contacts that have been conducted in recent months between Israel and Syria with American mediation. Earlier this year, the parties had already agreed to accelerate talks towards a security arrangement and even to establish a joint mechanism, under US supervision, intended to prevent misunderstandings and military escalation.
Now, according to Ravid's report, the meeting between Gofman and al-Shibani was intended to try to calm the tensions created following the attack and prevent further deterioration in relations. The Prime Minister's Office refused to comment on the report. The Syrian Foreign Minister's spokesman did not provide an immediate response.
As recalled, Israel launched an attack on Tuesday on the Syrian Abu al-Duhur airbase in the Idlib province in northern Syria, citing intelligence pointing to Turkey's plans to expand its military presence there. In response to the attack, Turkish officials, including Burhanettin Duran, the senior communications aide to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, rejected the Israeli accusations, but Israeli security sources continue to dispute the Turkish denials.
"Do not be misled," a senior Israeli security source told our senior analyst, Ben Caspit, on the 'Al-Monitor' website, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Turkey intended to station radar systems and attack drones at the Syrian airbase under Syrian cover. The information is very solid. The Turks know that we know, and so do the Syrians. Turkish military forces will not be deployed on Syrian soil. We have no intention of allowing that to happen."
As one of the main supporters of the armed opposition in Syria during the civil war, and through military incursions against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Turkey has gradually deployed about 20,000 soldiers in northern Syria from 2016 onwards. Earlier this year, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said that Ankara has no intention of withdrawing its forces from Syria in the near term.
