The US national security adviser, John Bolton, and his Russian and Israeli counterparts Nikolai Patrushev and Meir Ben-Shabbat will soon meet in West Jerusalem to discuss regional security issues and Syria in particular. This will mark the first meeting of its kind.
Western diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday that the future of Iranian presence in Syria will be the main topic on the agenda of Jerusalem’s meeting.
The sources said the meeting was scheduled based on an understanding between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that a priority should be given to guarantee the security of Israel and support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The three sides should discuss a roadmap that makes the US and its allies offer incentives to Moscow in Syria, such as reconstruction, legitimacy and lifting sanctions, in return of Russia’s commitment to concrete actions related to containing Iran’s role and the political operation in the country,” the sources said.
Meanwhile, two rockets were fired on Saturday from Syria toward the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights causing no casualties.
Israel said the rockets were targeting the Mount Hermon (Jabal Sheikh) area and that one rocket landed inside Israeli territory, while the other in Syria.
A military spokeswoman said that the details were still being looked into and that it remained unclear who had fired the rockets and where they had landed.
On Sunday, the Israeli military said its aircraft struck Syrian army targets in response to the rockets fired at the Golan Heights, while Syria’s state media said three soldiers were killed in the second such flare-up in a week.
“We will not tolerate any firing into our territory and we will respond with great force to any aggression against us,” Netanyahu said on Sunday morning.
