The United States military plans to send a contingent of troops to an air base at Syria’s capital, Damascus, Reuters reported on November 5, part of a plan to monitor a Syria-Israel ceasefire agreement. Syria and the U.S. were long-standing enemies, but after Bashar Assad’s regime fell in December, U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed to develop relations with the new Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa.

On Monday, Sharaa is scheduled to become the first Syrian head of state to visit the U.S. president in Washington. Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council voted 14-0 yesterday to remove sanctions on Syria. (China abstained.)

This comes despite Sharaa’s previous designation as a terrorist. He led the former terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al Qaeda affiliate. Jihadists joined Sharaa’s forces to topple Assad’s secularist regime and replace it with an Islamist one, a process that has not yet come to fruition.

Psalm 83 prophesies that Syria (under the ancient name “Hagarenes”) will join an end-time alliance formed so “that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance” (verse 4). This “name of Israel” includes the United States. For more information on current Syria-U.S. relations, read “Making Peace With Jihadists in Suits.”