Syrian and Israeli Officials to Met in Baku

“There was a meeting between a Syrian official and an Israeli official on the sidelines of the visit being conducted by [al-Sharaa] in Baku,” said the source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Israel is a major arms supplier to Azerbaijan and has a significant diplomatic presence in the Caucasus nation, according to AFP.

The diplomatic source stressed that al-Sharaa himself did not attend the Baku meeting, which focused on “the recent Israeli military presence in Syria.”

After the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria.

It also sent troops into the UN-patrolled buffer zone that used to separate the opposing forces on the strategic Golan Heights, from which it has conducted forays deeper into southern Syria.

Al-Sharaa has said repeatedly that Syria does not seek conflict with its neighbors, and has instead asked the international community to put pressure on Israel to halt its attacks, according to the report.