US military said poised to slash troops in Syria; Israel seeks to limit reduction
Israel has been kept in the loop about plan that could see US troop presence shrunk from 2,000 to 1,000; Jerusalem fears it will increase Turkey’s ‘appetite’ to control Syria
The US military is set to consolidate its presence in Syria over the coming weeks and months, two US officials told Reuters on Tuesday, in a move that could reduce the number of troops it has in the country by half.
Pentagon officials have informed their counterparts in the Israeli security establishment of the planned troop reduction in Syria, Ynet reported, adding that it is expected to begin within two months.
A senior Israeli official told the news site that Jerusalem is working to convince Washington to limit the withdrawal, fearing that the move will increase Turkey’s “appetite” to control Syria — something that Israel opposes.
The US has kept Israel up-to-date on its plans, Ynet said.
The US military has about 2,000 US troops in Syria across a number of bases, mostly in the northeast. The troops are working with local forces to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria but was later pushed back.
One of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that consolidation could reduce the number of troops in Syria to about 1,000.
Another US official confirmed the plan for a reduction but said there was no certainty on numbers and was skeptical of a decrease of that scale at a time when President Donald Trump’s administration has been negotiating with Iran and building up forces in the region.
The United States has recently sent aircraft including B-2 bombers, warships and air defense systems to reinforce the Middle East.
Trump said on Monday that he believes Iran is intentionally delaying a nuclear deal with the United States and that it must abandon any drive for a nuclear weapon or face a possible military strike on Tehran’s atomic facilities.
Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is carrying out a global review of US military troops around the world.
The Islamist-led government in Syria that took over after Bashar Assad was ousted in December has sought to rebuild Syria’s ties in the region and further afield.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the US, last month signed a deal with Damascus on merging Kurdish-led governing bodies and security forces with the central government.
The US gave Syria a list in March of conditions to fulfill in exchange for partial sanctions relief but the Trump administration has otherwise engaged little with the country’s new rulers.
Some White House officials have been keen to take a more hardline stance, pointing to the new Syrian leadership’s former ties to Al-Qaeda as reason to keep engagement to a minimum.
Trump’s team talked openly about withdrawing them before the president returned to office.
Trump announced a full withdrawal of US troops from Syria during his first term but never followed through completely. Then too, Israel opposed the move, expressing concern that an American withdrawal would create a power vacuum in the region, allowing Tehran to expand its military entrenchment near the Israeli border.
The Times of Israel Community.