Sharaa, the heavily-bearded former Islamist insurgent who was once the target of U.S. counterterrorism operations, has taken another step towards full acceptance under President Donald Trump. Trump announced during a trip to Saudi Arabia that he plans to lift sanctions on Syria after the fall of the Iranian-backed administration of former President Bashar al-Assad.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesady became the first American president to meet with his Syrian counterpart in a quarter of century, holding informal talks with interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh.

Israel, alleging Sharaa remains a jihadist, has declared south Syria off limits to his forces. It said a strike near the presidential palace in Damascus on May 2 was a warning that it would not let Syrian forces deploy south of the capital or allow any threat to Syria's Druze minority.