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Abstract The Carmel–Gilboa fault system (CGFS) runs sub-parallel to the Azraq–Sirhan Garben (ASG) and the Red Sea Rift. Although the system currently forms a triple junction with the Dead Sea transform (DST), its initiation is considered to be associated with NE–SW extensional regime during the Africa-Arabia breakup in the late Oligocene to early Miocene. The role of the CGFS in the breakup process is not fully understood. In addition, the exact timing of initiation and potential reactivation during the onset of the DST plate boundary is not well constrained. This work sheds light on these events by establishing a long-term record of deformation along the CGFS and its intersection with the DST. This study presents 17 U-Pb ages of syn-tectonic calcite (n= 14,∼ 33.2 to 2.3 Ma) collected along the CGFS. These ages suggest that the earliest faulting phase along the CGFS took place between∼ 25 to∼ 21 Ma …