Syria’s foreign minister held rare meeting with Israeli delegation in Paris, report says

BEIRUT — Syria’s foreign minister held a rare meeting with an Israeli delegation in Paris on Tuesday, the Syrian state-run news agency reported. The talks were brokered by the United States, which has been pushing for Syria and Israel to normalize relations, the report said. The SANA news agency said Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani met with Israeli officials to discuss de-escalating tensions and restoring a 1974 ceasefire agreement. Syrian officials have acknowledged holding indirect talks with Israel to defuse tensions. There was no immediate confirmation of such a meeting from Israel. Tensions have soared between the two neighboring countries following the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad in December. Israeli forces seized control of a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in Syria shortly after Assad’s overthrow and carried out airstrikes on military sites in what officials said was aimed at creating a demilitarized zone south of Damascus. Israel has said it will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves along the frontier, as Iranian-backed groups did during Assad’s rul

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