Israel and Turkey have been holding direct talks to establish a deconfliction mechanism in Syria to avoid the risk of military clashes, the Middle East Eye reported, citing two Western officials.

The talks come in the wake of Israel’s airstrikes last week on airbases in Syria at the same time that Ankara was preparing to deploy a team to begin preparations for taking over the bases.

“Netanyahu believes there has been progress in the talks with Turkey,” the report claimed. “Turkish and Israeli officials made similar statements at the same time that seem to have been coordinated, saying they were not looking for confrontation over Syria. The U.S. remains the final arbitrator on Syria and it seems that the administration wants Israel and Turkey tensions de-escalated.”

During the meeting between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday, Trump said that he has excellent relations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and he could work out a deal between Israel and Turkey if there are tensions in Syria.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)