The United Arab Emirates has denied setting up a backchannel for discussions between Israel and Syria, following reports from three individuals familiar with the situation, as Syria's new leaders seek regional assistance to manage a growingly tense relationship with their southern neighbor.
The indirect contacts, which have not been previously reported, are focused on security and intelligence matters and confidence-building between two states with no official relations, a person with direct knowledge of the matter, a Syrian security source, and a regional intelligence official said.
The first source described the effort, which began days after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the UAE on April 13, as currently focused on "technical matters," and said there was no limit to what may eventually be discussed.
Backchannel limited to security-related issues
According to a Western source to The Jerusalem Post: The discussions between Israel and Syria were indirect, with messages relayed through the Emirates between Israeli officials and Syrian President Sharaa. Some of these talks took place over the past month.
The source said that purely military matters, particularly those concerning Israeli army activities in Syria, fell outside the scope of the current channel.
The intelligence source said UAE security officials, Syrian intelligence officials, and former Israeli intelligence officials were involved in the mechanism, among others.
They spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.
This is a developing story.