The United Arab Emirates has set up a backchannel for talks between Israel and Syria, three people familiar with the matter said, as Syria's new rulers seek regional help to manage an increasingly hostile relationship with their southern neighbour.

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa says that his country is holding indirect talks with Israel to prevent recent hostilities from getting out of control.

The United Arab Emirates has set up a backchannel for talks between Israel and Syria, three people familiar with the matter says, as Syria’s new rulers seek regional help to manage an increasingly hostile relationship with their southern neighbor.

“There are indirect talks with Israel through mediators to calm and attempt to absorb the situation so that it does not reach a level that both sides lose control over,” al-Sharaa said, reiterating blame on Israel over what he described as its “random interventions” in Syria.

The Israeli officers, who monitor humanitarian conditions in Gaza, said that unless the blockade is lifted quickly, many areas will likely run out of food to meet minimum daily needs. On Monday, a U.N.-backed initiative that monitors malnutrition also warned that famine was imminent in Gaza.

Turkey is deploying all-out diplomatic efforts to secure a Russia-Ukraine deal, to ease Syria's relations with the West and facilitate Iranian nuclear talks, its diplomatic standing burnished by Donal

By Gram Slattery, Pesha Magid, Nafisa Eltahir and Timour Azhari RIYADH/DAMASCUS (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would order the lifting of sanctions on Syria at the behest of Saudi Arabia's crown prince,