US seeks to establish military presence at Damascus airbase amid HTS-Israel normalization deal
Iran Press TV
Thursday, 06 November 2025 4:10 PM
The United States is preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in the Syrian capital Damascus to help enable a normalization pact that Washington is brokering between the Western-backed Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) administration and the Israeli regime.
Media outlets citing multiple sources familiar with the matter on Thursday confirmed that the US was planning to use the base to help monitor a potential Israel-Syria agreement.
That deal is being mediated by the US President Donald Trump's administration.
A US administration official said the US was "constantly evaluating our necessary posture in Syria" to purportedly combat Daesh.
"(We) do not comment on locations or possible locations of (where) forces operate," the official said.
The media reports, however, revealed that the base reportedly sits at the gateway to parts of southern Syria that are expected to make up a demilitarized zone as part of a so-called non-aggression pact between Israel and Syria.
The US military already has about 2,000 troops in Syria across several bases, mostly in the northeast.
The deployment of US military convoys on Syrian soil comes despite recent announcements by US officials indicating that Washington intends to scale down its military presence in Syria to a single base.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported last month that a US cargo plane carrying soldiers as well as military and logistical supplies had landed in Kharab al-Jir airbase in Rmelan countryside in northern Hasakah.
Trump has also admitted on several occasions that American forces were in the Arab country for its oil wealth.
Trump is now set to meet Western-backed HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, once affiliated with al-Qaeda and Daesh, at the White House on Monday.
The developments come as Syrian forces, dominated by the HTS and other militant groups, have continued to carry out sectarian killings, kidnappings, and persecution across Syria.
The HTS rulers have enjoyed unconditional backing by the United States, Europe and the monarchies of Arab states in the Persian Gulf region with sanctions relief and financial support.
This happened despite Jolani forces killing hundreds of civilians from the Assad family's sect Alawites, in March. Then came the killing spree in a province called Sweida.
It was also a turning point for the Arab country. To many Syrians, the massacre in Sweida made clear a pattern of HTS-led forces targeting and killing Syrian minorities, with few repercussions.
The Druze minority and Alawite community had a history of supporting the Assad government and standing against Israeli occupation and expansionist policies, including in the occupied Golan Heights.
Rights groups earlier documented the violent deaths of nearly 10,000 people across Syria under the brutal HTS rule.
After the collapse of the al-Assad government last December, Jolani was widely praised by the Western media. An article in the UK's Telegraph described his armed group, the former al-Qaeda affiliated HTS, as "diversity-friendly militants."
Trump, during a regional tour, announced a decision to lift all sanctions against the al-Jolani regime in exchange for normalizing ties with Israel.
Jolani has assured the Western countries that Syria will "normalize relations" with Israel, recognize the regime, and exchange ambassadors by the end of 2026.
The HTS-led regime will reportedly hand over the occupied Golan Heights to Israel as part of a looming normalization deal with the illegal entity.
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