Syria and Israel are moving toward a preliminary "de-escalation" agreement that would see Israel halt airstrikes in exchange for Damascus keeping heavy military equipment away from the border, a senior U.S. official announced on Tuesday.

The potential arrangement was described by U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack as a "first step" toward a broader security deal being negotiated by the two long-time adversaries. Barrack spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

“Syria and Israel are in talks to reach an agreement that Damascus hopes will secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria,” Barrack said.

He indicated that President Donald Trump had been pushing for an announcement this week, but noted that progress had been slowed by the Rosh Hashanah holiday. “I think everybody is approaching it in good faith,” Barrack added.

However, the path to any agreement is fraught with deep-seated mistrust. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who came to power after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad last December, expressed skepticism about Israel's intentions.

“We are scared of Israel. We are worried about Israel. It’s not the other way around,” Sharaa told an event in New York earlier on Tuesday.

Israel and Syria have technically been in a state of war since 1948. A 1974 disengagement agreement that created a demilitarized zone on the Golan Heights effectively collapsed on December 8 of last year when Israel abandoned the truce. That same day, Syrian rebel forces ousted Assad in a major offensive.

Since the fall of the Assad regime, Israeli forces have conducted over 1,000 airstrikes and more than 400 ground incursions into Syria, according to Damascus officials. Israel maintains that these actions are necessary to target militant groups near its border and prevent Iran or other hostile actors from gaining a foothold in the country.

The new Damascus government, led by the former Islamist commander Sharaa, has struggled to assert control over the country while facing continued Israeli military operations. Israel has openly opposed Sharaa's rule, which is marked by his history of jihadist ties, and has lobbied Washington to keep Syria weak and decentralized.