US Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barak arrived in Israel for a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA. The purpose of the meeting was for the two to discuss the situation in Syria and Lebanon.
The meeting was followed by discussions between Barak and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Dermer held talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shibani in Paris on security measures in southern Syria, Syrian sources familiar with the meeting said.
Syrian and Israeli representatives are holding talks, with the mediation of the United States, to de-escalate the conflict in southern Syria.
A previous round of talks was held in Paris in late July but ended without a final agreement.
Barak said during his visit to Lebanon that Israel must comply with a plan according to which the Lebanese militant group “Hezbollah“ will be disarmed by the end of the year, in exchange for a halt to Israeli military operations in Lebanon.
The plan sets out a phased roadmap under which armed groups would hand over their arsenals while the Israeli military halts ground, air and naval operations and withdraws its troops from southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese government approved the plan's objectives earlier this month, despite Hezbollah's refusal to disarm. Thomas Barak said it was now Israel's turn to cooperate.