Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will go off what his opposite number in Damascus does, not what he says. In the meantime, Israeli actions make a genuine peace more difficult.
This is a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity to agree a détente between two hostile neighbours, but getting there is tricky. Several issues must (but can) be overcome.
Residents of Quneitra province are wary of a creeping Israeli presence in their land, with some vowing "not to betray" those who died to keep the land Syrian
Joyous at Iran's lost influence in Syria, Israel could have celebrated with Syrians after Assad's ouster. Instead, it rained bombs down, occupied land, and destroyed Syrian assets. Why? Ask Netanyahu
Khamenei has struck a defiant tone amid growing protests against his regime, but a series of regional setbacks, coupled with an emboldened Trump, could finally bring it down
Overcoming Yemen's fragmentation requires more support for the Riyadh-led path—one that rejects secession, all militias and institutionalises the state
If fighting spreads beyond the predominantly Kurdish neighbourhoods of Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud and beyond Aleppo, there is a real risk that Syria could be dragged into a new civil war
Recently declassified meeting minutes between the two leaders show how Washington was well aware of Moscow's grievances over NATO expansion, but went ahead anyway