Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa said his government has negotiated indirectly with Israel to ease tensions between the two countries.
The announcement comes after last week's Israeli attack on Syria, which included a strike on Friday just 500 meters (1,640 feet) from the Presidential Palace in Damascus.
Israel claims its recent air strikes are in response to what it describes as a threat to the country's ethnic Druze community.
"Indirect negotiations with Israel through mediators that calm and try to absorb the situation so that neither side can control it," Al-Sharaa said.
He also said Damascus was talking to states communicating with Israel to “force them to stop interfering in Syria and bomb some of its infrastructure.”
Israeli authorities did not immediately comment.
Al-Sharaa's remarks were during a visit to a landmark in Paris, his first trip since his tenure as he led opposition fighters in December as longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
The visit requires a special exemption from the United Nations as Al-Sharaa was subject to international sanctions for her former leader of the armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former branch of Al-Qaeda.
Raise sanctions
Al-Sharaa spoke in Paris after meeting with Elysee Palace President Emmanuel Macron, calling for the lifting of economic restrictions on Syria, noting: “Nothing can prove that sanctions against previous regimes are maintained.”
President Macron said France will consider gradually lifting EU sanctions if Syria continues to move along the current path.
“I told the president that if he keeps going, we will do the same thing, i.e., step by step in the European sanctions, and then we will also lobby our American partners to follow suit on this issue.”
The EU has lifted some restrictions, and other measures targeting individuals and entities will expire on June 1. Sanctions relief in sectors such as oil, gas, electricity and transportation remains crucial to Syria, where the World Bank estimates that the country's reconstruction could cost more than $250 billion.
Despite some relaxation of sanctions by European countries, the Trump administration has been more reserved in its approach to the new Syrian government.
Macron revealed that he urged the United States to postpone its planned military withdrawal from Syria and believed that lifting sanctions should be taken as a step to ensure long-term stability.
"In return, Macron expects the new Syrian government to protect ethnic minorities, ensure stability and undermine what he calls terrorist groups, including ISIS," Al Jazeera's Natacha Butler reported from Paris.
Butler added: "Sharaa is here to project a reassuring image to France's Western allies who have been on the verge of alert and want to see the direction of the new leadership."