The United States is preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase near Damascus to help oversee a possible security agreement between Syria and Israel, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing six sources familiar with the plans.

What the deployment would involve

The base sits at the gateway to parts of southern Syria expected to become a demilitarised zone under a non-aggression pact being mediated by President Donald Trump's administration. The United States would use the facility for logistics, surveillance, aircraft refuelling and humanitarian operations, according to two Syrian military sources cited by Reuters. Syria would retain sovereignty over the installation, and Washington would not assume formal control. The Pentagon has accelerated preparations over the past two months, carrying out several reconnaissance missions, and US C-130 transport aircraft have already landed there to assess the runway, which was found ready for immediate use.

Damascus denies the report

Syria's government rejected the account. An unidentified Foreign Ministry official told the state news agency SANA that claims about American military bases in Syria were "untrue". The Pentagon declined to confirm the reported deployment, and a US administration official said Washington was constantly evaluating its military posture in Syria but would not discuss specific locations. Reuters said it had agreed not to reveal the exact location of the base for operational security reasons.

A first White House visit

The report comes ahead of a meeting between Mr Trump and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday, the first visit by a Syrian head of state. The administration had hoped to announce a Syria–Israel agreement during September's United Nations General Assembly, but negotiations ran into last-minute complications, Reuters reported. A deal would mark a further step in Syria's realignment with Washington since the fall of Bashar al-Assad last year.