U.S. to send troops to Damascus to oversee possible Syria-Israel pact: Report

America will send a force to an air base in the Syrian capital of Damascus to oversee a potential U.S.-brokered disengagement agreement between Syria and Israel, according to a new report. 

A U.S. military presence in southern Syria could bring Damascus and Washington even closer as Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa prepares to meet with President Trump on Monday at the White House. 

U.S. officials in Damascus are expected to use the base to monitor a potential agreement between Syria and Israel, according to a Reuters report citing unnamed Syrian and U.S. security officials. 

The deal has been in the works for months, with U.S. mediators, including Tom Barrack, hoping to create a demilitarized zone in southern Syria to prevent further violence between Damascus and Jerusalem. The agreement was intended to be finalized before the U.N. General Assembly in September, but last-minute demands from Israel delayed plans.

Since the fall of former President Bashar Assad’s government last December, Israel has launched numerous missile strikes on Syrian military targets, including in Damascus.

The Pentagon has sent several reconnaissance missions to the Damascus base in the past two months, unnamed U.S. defense officials said in the report, and at least one C-130 military transport plane has landed at the facility. 

Damascus is expected to retain full control over the facility, while U.S. officials will use the base to conduct “logistics, surveillance, refueling and humanitarian operations.”

Officials did not make clear how many U.S. troops will be stationed at the base. 

The upcoming increase in U.S. military presence in Syria runs slightly counter to Washington’s efforts to reduce its military footprint in the country following the fall of the Assad regime. In April, the Pentagon announced plans to reduce its troops in northern Syria to 1,000, nearly a 50% drop. 

U.S. troops have been stationed in Syria for years in an effort to aid Kurdish forces in their fight against the Islamic State. Those Kurdish-led soldiers are expected to be folded into the regular Syrian military by the end of the year.