Israel Confirms Third-party Contacts with Syria

Israel and Syria have been in contact through third parties for a while, but the mediators have been unable to get the two sides to resume peace talks. In a speech, Syrian President Bashar Assad, said a third country recently offered to serve as a mediator with Israel. The country which he did not identify has mediated in the past, but there was nothing serious and clear. In Damascus, Syrian lawmaker Mohammad Habash, said negotiations could not take place until the Israelis commit to leave the Golan Heights, a condition also posed by Assad during his speech. Israel captured the strategic plateau in the 1967 Mideast war.