During al-Sharaa's visit to Azerbaijan, Israeli and Syrian officials meet to discuss security agreement

According to reports in Syrian media, officials from the government of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa met with Israeli officials during al-Sharaa’s visit to Baku, Azerbaijan, over the weekend.

A diplomatic source from Damascus told AFP, “A meeting took place between a Syrian official and an Israeli official on the sidelines of al-Sharaa’s visit to Baku,” speaking on condition of anonymity. 

The Syrian official also said that contrary to reports, al-Sharaa did not participate in the meeting, which focused on “the recent Israeli military presence in Syria” as part of a security agreement. 

Al-Sharaa is in Azerbaijan to negotiate an energy deal for his country, as the previous energy agreement between the Bashar al-Assad government and Iran fell apart after the HTS-led rebels conquered Damascus, leading Assad to flee to Moscow. 

President al-Sharaa met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, where they signed a deal to transfer natural gas to Syria through Turkey. Azerbaijan has close ties to Turkey, due to the ethnic and linguistic ties between the two countries. Both countries are predominantly Turkic in ethnicity and speak Turkish as the official language. 

Azerbaijan will supply gas to Syria

This was announced by the country's president, Ilham Aliyev, during a reception for Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa. He noted that gas supplies will pass through Turkey. pic.twitter.com/1C2xB5rfsz

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 12, 2025

The meeting between Israeli and Syrian officials marks a significant step in the relations between the two countries, especially as Israeli officials have continued to publicly express reservations about a peace deal with the HTS-led government. 

Previous reports claimed that Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi met with al-Sharaa in Abu Dhabi during the latter’s recent visit. However, Hanegbi was in Washington at the time and later denied meeting with al-Sharaa.

Israel has continued to carry out air strikes in Syria to prevent key military assets from the Assad government from falling into the hands of the new regime, some of whose members have expressed support for jihad against Israel. Israel also took control of a strategically important site on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon. 

Meanwhile, Pakistani news agency Samaa cited “a Syrian source close to the presidency” who claimed that the Syrian president sat in on one of the meetings between Israeli and Syrian officials. The source also claimed that Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security talks with Israel, were present in the meetings. 

The agency did not provide names for any of the Israeli officials involved in the meetings. 

After reporting that al-Sharaa would not attend any meetings, i24 News reported Saturday that the Syrian president was expected to sit in on at least one meeting. It also claimed that the sides were expected to hold at least two meetings, and stated that “a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures,” were in attendance representing Israel. 

The meetings are expected to cover the Iranian threat to regional stability in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons in Lebanon and attempts to transfer weapons through Syrian territory, Palestinian refugee camps in Syria and Lebanon, as well as weapons within those camps, and the possible resettlement of Palestinians wishing to leave Gaza. 

The source who spoke to i24 claimed the decision to hold talks in Azerbaijan, which shares a border with Iran, was intended to send a message to the Iranian regime. 

The discussions between Israeli and Syrian officials is expected to lead to a security agreement that could be signed by both al-Sharaa and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in the U.S. in September, where the two will reportedly hold a meeting together with U.S. President Donald Trump. 

While some reports have claimed that Syria could be close to signing a peace agreement with Israel, possibly joining the Abraham Accords, an Israeli official recently told Ynet News that the countries are not yet discussing normalization. 

“Anyone dreaming of dipping pita in hummus in Damascus should keep dreaming,” the official stated. 

After meeting al-Sharaa in May, President Trump expressed hope that the two countries could reach a normalization agreement, with Syria possibly joining the Abraham Accords.  

“(Al-Sharaa) said yes. But they have a lot of work to do,” Trump said at the time.