Paris -- The negotiations, expected to last two days, will be mediated by US President Donald Trump’s Syria envoy, Tom Barrack. 

The resumption follows a request by Trump to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at MaraLago last week.

 Trump urged that talks continue to reach a deal soon, and Netanyahu agreed, while stressing that any agreement must preserve Israel’s “red lines.”

“We do have an understanding regarding Syria. I'm sure that Israel and [Syrian President Ahmed Al-Shara] will get along. I will try and make it so that they do get along. I think they will,” Trump said after the meeting.

Netanyahu said Israel seeks a “peaceful border” with Syria and protection for the Druze minority there, a justification Israel has used to intervene militarily.

 Syrian officials have rejected US-backed normalisation efforts while Israeli forces remain on Syrian territory and insist on a full Israeli withdrawal as a prerequisite for talks.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani will lead the Syrian delegation, facing Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, a close confidant of Netanyahu.

 Netanyahu’s military adviser, General Roman Gofman, nominated to head Mossad, and Israel’s acting national security adviser, Gill Reich, are also expected to participate. Previous rounds stalled over deep disagreements and the resignation of Israel’s former chief negotiator, Ron Dermer.

The talks aim to reach a security pact that would include demilitarisation of southern Syria and a partial Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied after the collapse of the Assad government. 

Israel expanded its presence in southern Syria after December 2024, violating the 1974 disengagement agreement and carrying out airstrikes targeting Syrian army infrastructure.

Israel seized approximately 1,200 sq km of the Golan Heights in 1967 and continues to ignore UN resolutions calling for withdrawal.

 Damascus insists that a return to the 1974 disengagement agreement, which has held for over 50 years, is a prerequisite for any negotiations.