By Humeyra PamukNEW YORK (Reuters) -Syria and Israel are close to striking a “de-escalation” agreement in which Israel will stop its attacks while Syria will agree to not move any machinery or heavy equipment near the Israeli border, a senior U.S. envoy said on Tuesday. 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. Israel and Syria have been Middle East adversaries for decades. Despite the overthrow of Syria’s longtime President Bashar al-Assad last December, territorial disputes and deep-seated political mistrust between the two countries remain. Since then, Israel has carried out more than 1,000 strikes on Syria and conducted more than 400 ground incursions, Sharaa said last week.