1948–1975 Syria has been an active belligerent, with periodic ceasefires and use of
proxies, against Israel ever since May 1948, Syria attempted to recover the Golan Heights in the
Yom Kippur War, but was unsuccessful, only recovering a small part of it in the 1974 disengagement agreement, while committing to distance its armed forces further eastwards compared with their 1967–1973 positions.
During Lebanese civil war In December 1981, the Israeli
Knesset voted to extend Israeli law to the part of the
Golan Heights over which Israel retained control. The UN Security Council subsequently passed a resolution calling on Israel to rescind this measure. In 1982,
Israel invaded Lebanon to drive out the
PLO. Syria sent ground and air forces to assist the Lebanese, but these were largely routed by the Israelis. Syria continued to support Lebanese militias, leading up to Israel's withdrawal in 2000.
1990s peace efforts The first high-level public talks aimed at a permanent resolution of the conflict between Israel and Syria were held at and after the multilateral
Madrid Conference of 1991. Throughout the 1990s several Israeli governments negotiated with Syria's President
Hafez al-Assad. While serious progress was made, they were unsuccessful. Negotiations were conducted intermittently through the 1990s, and came very close to succeeding. However, the parties were unable to come to an agreement due to President
Bill Clinton's failure to consult with the Syrian President,
Hafez al-Assad during the negotiating process, Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Barak's backtracking on the issue of the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee and Syria's nonnegotiable demand that Israel withdraw to the positions it held on 4 June 1967 (which meant Israel would relinquish its claim to territory occupied by the Syrians in the early 1950s in contravention to the 1949 Armistice Agreement—including the north-eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee). A major stumbling-block was that in response to Israel's demand that the entire Golan from the Jordan River to the outskirts of Damascus be demilitarized the Syrians demanded that Israel demilitarize all its territory to a similar distance from the new border. This was not acceptable to Israel as it would have effectively left all of northern Israel between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea (more than a quarter of Israel), including the entire length of Israel's border with Lebanon, completely defenceless. The peace negotiations collapsed following the outbreak of the second Palestinian (Intifada) uprising in September 2000, though Syria continues to call for a comprehensive settlement based on UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and the land-for-peace formula adopted at the
1991 Madrid conference.
During Damascus spring: 2000–2005 Tensions between Israel and Syria increased as the Intifada dragged on, primarily as a result of Syria's refusal to stop giving sanctuary to
Palestinian militant groups conducting operations against Israel. In October 2003, following a suicide bombing carried out by a member of Palestinian
Islamic Jihad in
Haifa that killed 20 Israeli citizens,
Israel Defense Forces attacked a suspected Palestinian militant training camp 15 kilometers north of
Damascus. This was the first such Israeli attack deep inside Syrian territory since the 1973 war. Syria announced it would respond diplomatically, and asked the UN Security Council to condemn the Israeli action. High points of hostility in the 2000s included the
Ain es Saheb airstrike (an
Israeli Air Force mission against Palestinian militants inside Syria) in 2003 and
Operation Orchard (an Israeli air and commando mission against Syria's alleged nuclear program) in 2007.
Syrian alliance with Iran: 2006–present During the
2006 Lebanon War, Syria threatened to enter the war on Hezbollah's side, provided support to Hezbollah, and allowed
Iran to ship supplies to Hezbollah through its territory. Later,
Turkey organized peace talks between the two countries, but Syria later withdrew in response to the 2008–2009
Gaza War. The September 2007
Operation Outside the Box attack by the
Israeli Air Force destroyed a facility that Israel claimed was a nuclear site in the
Deir ez-Zor region. In 2010, Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad accused Israel of avoiding peace, and Syrian Foreign Minister
Walid Muallem warned that in the event of a future war, Israeli cities would be targeted by Syrian missiles. Israeli Foreign Minister
Avigdor Lieberman responded by saying that the Syrian military would be defeated in a war with Israel, and Assad and his family would be forced from power. Lieberman also advised Syria to let go of the demand for the Golan Heights. For several months in 2010 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel engaged in secret, American-brokered discussions with Syria.
During Syrian civil war: 2011–2024 Several incidents have taken place on the Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line during the
Syrian Civil War, straining the state of peace between the countries. The incidents are considered a spillover of the
Quneitra Governorate clashes since 2012 and later incidents between the Syrian Army and the rebels, ongoing on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan and the Golan Neutral Zone and the
Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian Civil War. Through the incidents, which began in late 2012, as of mid-2014, one Israeli civilian was killed and at least 4 soldiers wounded; on the Syrian-controlled side, it is estimated that at least ten soldiers were killed, as well as two unidentified militants, who attempted to penetrate into Israeli-occupied side of the Golan Heights. On 11 May 2018, Israel urged Syria to reduce the level of Iranian military presence in the country, with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman stating: "Throw the Iranians,
Qasem Soleimani and the
Quds forces out of your country! They are not acting in your interest, they are only hurting you. Their whole presence only brings problems and destruction." On 10 July 2018, Lieberman did not rule out establishing "some kind of relationship" with Syria under Assad. On 11 July 2018, Netanyahu stated that Israel was not seeking to take action against Assad, but urged Russia to facilitate the withdrawal of Iranian troops from Syria. On 2 August 2018, Lieberman stated his belief that Syrian troops regaining control of the country's border with Israel would reduce the chance of conflict in the Golan Heights by providing "a real address, someone responsible, and central rule". In April 2019, Syria permitted the return of the remains of
Zechariah Baumel to Israel in a Russian-brokered deal. In exchange, Israel released two Syrian prisoners as a "goodwill gesture" to Syria in January 2020. In January 2021, Syria denied reports of a Russia-mediated meeting at the
Khmeimim Air Base between former
IDF Chief of Staff
Gadi Eisenkot and Syrian National Security Bureau head
Ali Mamlouk. In February 2021, Israel took part in a Russian-brokered prisoner exchange with Syria, where Syria released an Israeli woman who had entered Syria in exchange for two Syrian shepherds who had entered Israel. According to the
Times of Israel, there was more to this agreement than purely a prisoner exchange, but that these details had been redacted by an Israeli military censor on media coverage of the agreement. Subsequent foreign media reports revealed that Israel had supplied
COVID-19 vaccines to Syria as part of the agreement. On May 19, 2022, the Israeli military said it activated its missile defences after wrongly identifying a danger near the Lebanon border. On May 20, 2022, an Israeli "aggression" launched from the Golan Heights and targeting southern sections of Damascus killed three individuals and inflicted minor material damage, according to the Syrian Ministry of Defense. In October 2023, the
Tahrir al-Sham's clerics held prayers for a
Palestinian victory in the
Gaza war and said it celebrated
Hamas'
jihad while condemning its ties with
Shiite-led Iran. The group expressed support for the right of the Palestinian people to reclaim their land. The rebel anti-Assad
Syrian National Army (SNA), previously the
Free Syrian Army (FSA), expressed sympathy for the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, comparing Israel's attacks in Gaza to Assad regime's attacks on rebel-held areas in Syria's
Idlib Governorate. During the decisive
battle of Damascus and subsequent
fall of the Assad regime on 7–8 December 2024, Israeli forces initiated
military operations in Syria's
Quneitra Governorate. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the goal is to prevent any threat until an agreement was reached with the new Syrian government. He also said their desire is to establish neighborly and peaceful relations, and offered a hand of peace to all the Christians, Druzes, Kurds, and Muslims in Syria who want to live in peace with the State of Israel. A Turkish news report claimed that Assad provided Israel with a map of Syria's military sites before fleeing to Russia.
Post-Assad Syria: 2025–present and
Israeli invasion of Syria in 2024 After announcing that due to the regime collapsing, Israel no longer recognizes the ceasefire that was reached with the former regime and does not view it as legally binding anymore, during its December 2024 invasion, Israel took control of the
United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) buffer area. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded the complete demilitarization of southern Syria in the governates of
Quneitra,
Daraa and
Suwayda, and the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Syrian territory south of Damascus on 23 February 2025. Israeli Defense Minister
Israel Katz said that Israeli forces would remain in southern Syria "for an indefinite period of time to protect our communities and thwart any threat." Syria condemned
Israel's invasion and demanded they withdraw. Hours later, Israel conducted a wave of airstrikes in Damascus and southern Syria. Reuters reported in February 2025 that the United States is being lobbied by Israel to keep Syria weak and decentralized, including by allowing Russia to maintain military bases in Syria to counter Turkey. Israel received a delegation of over 150
Syrian Druze from
Hader,
Syria in March 2025, a historic visit after fifty years of a closed border. The visit had top level Israeli diplomatic and security involvement and included a visit to the
Nabi Shu'ayb tomb, a meeting with Israeli Druze leader,
Muwaffaq Tarif, participation in the annual sheikhs march, and dedication of a
khalwa. Israeli Druze MK
Hamad Amar coordinated the visit, and hopes many more will continue for years to come. He expressed concern that the new leader of Syria,
Ahmed al-Sharaa, is a former member of the
Islamic State, and termed the
2025 massacres of Syrian Alawites a genocide. He was also worried about the threats to Druze in southern Syria, and hoped Israel would continue to defend them. Reports in June 2025 stated that Israel and Syria were in direct daily contact and discussing the possibility of normalizing their bilateral relations. Israel stated on 3 July 2025 that its forces had captured a "terrorist cell operated by Iran" in southern Syria. Israeli airstrikes on 16 July 2025 targeted the Syrian military headquarters in Damascus and multiple sites across Suwayda and Daraa in response to
massacres of Druze perpetrated by Bedouin militias and Syrian military forces. The strikes killed at least three and injured 34, also hitting the vicinity of the Presidential Palace and the al-Tha'lah Airbase. On August 20, 2025, the official
Syrian News Agency issued an official statement that Syrian Foreign Minister
Asaad al-Shaibani met in Paris with an Israeli delegation "to discuss a number of issues related to strengthening stability in the region and in southern Syria." This was the first time in over 25 years that an official Syrian media outlet had reported on contacts between the Syrian government and the Israeli government. A few days later, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa claimed that a security agreement with Israel was at an advanced stage, and emphasized that he would not hesitate to publicly reach a peace agreement with Israel if it benefited Syria and the region. During his visit to
Washington, D.C. in November 2025, al-Sharaa stated that they are in direct negotiations with Israel, and reiterated that Israel should withdraw to their pre-December 8 borders before a final agreement can be reached. In November 2025, the Israeli army killed 13 individuals in the Syrian town of Beit Jinn, while the unlawful detention of Syrians has risen due to the Israeli army's expansion of checkpoints in Syria. In a December 2025 interview with CNN, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa stated that Israeli leaders "frequently export crises to other nations." == Peace, security, and non-aggression agreements ==