Reuters: US to set up military airbase in Damascus to monitor Syria-Israel peace

The United States is reportedly preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in Damascus as part of efforts to support a security pact that is currently being brokered between Syria and Israel.

This development is being exclusively reported by Reuters, which cites six unnamed sources familiar with the matter from both sides.

The airbase, located near the capital, is said to serve as a gateway to parts of southern Syria that are expected to form a demilitarised zone under a prospective non-aggression pact between Israel and Syria. The initiative is being seen as a key step in reshaping regional security arrangements, with Washington playing a central role in mediating and implementing the deal.

US President Donald Trump is scheduled to welcome Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House next week, which will mark the first official visit by a Syrian head of state to Washington, underscoring the evolving nature of U.S.-Syria relations since the fall of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, who had been a close ally of Iran and Russia.

A Western military official told Reuters that the Pentagon had accelerated its plans over the last two months and that several reconnaissance missions had already been conducted at the Damascus airbase.

Two Syrian military sources confirmed that technical talks between American and Syrian officials have been centred on using the base for “logistics, surveillance, refuelling and humanitarian operations,” with assurances that Syria would maintain “full sovereignty” over the facility. This arrangement, they said, was designed to balance Syrian national interests with the practical requirements of joint security cooperation.

Another Syrian defence official added that the US military had already flown into the base using C-130 transport aircraft to inspect and verify the condition of the runway.

Meanwhile, a security guard stationed at one of the airbase’s entrances confirmed to Reuters that American aircraft had been landing there recently as part of “tests,” further indicating that preparatory activities are already underway for what could become one of the most notable US military deployments in Syria since the country’s decade-long conflict.

By Nazrin Sadigova