Syria and Israel are resuming new security negotiations today in the French capital, Paris, with U.S.

 mediation, as part of efforts to reach a security agreement regulating the situation in southern Syria, according to an Israeli official cited by the Axios website.

According to the source, the talks involve Israeli officials alongside representatives of Syria’s transitional government. The new round is being held under the auspices of the U.S. Special Envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, and aims to reach an agreement that includes the demilitarization of southern Syria in exchange for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Syrian areas they took control of following the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The talks are expected to last for two days, with the participation of Syrian Transitional Government Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, along with a new Israeli negotiating team.

This round marks the fifth set of negotiations between the two sides, and the first in nearly two months, after talks were halted due to sharp disagreements, which were followed by the resignation of former chief Israeli negotiator Ron Dermer.

Axios noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has formed a new negotiating team headed by Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, and including Netanyahu’s military adviser, Major General Roman Gofman, as well as Acting National Security Adviser Gil Reich.

These negotiations come amid intensified diplomatic efforts led by the United States to reorganize the security situation in the region, following the political and security transformations Syria has witnessed in recent period.