The Belgian parliament must still approve the move, which follows a formal request from Washington yesterday, Belgian Defence Minister Pieter De Crem said.
The threat posed by the IS group prompted the United States to launch airstrikes in Iraq last month and yesterday the operation was expanded to IS and other groups in Syria.
De Crem was quoted as saying by the Belga news agency that the government had approved an initial one-month deployment, which could be renewed.
A full vote in parliament is expected in coming days, possibly on Friday. It is expected to pass.
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The planes would be deployed two or three days later.
The F-16s would be based in Jordan, one of the Arab nations that has joined the coalition, and would be accompanied by around 120 personnel, the defence ministry said.
But a plan to send a C-130 transport plane and special forces tasked with training Iraqi troops and Kurdish Peshmerga forces was not officially discussed by the ministers, Belga said.
The US military operation in Syria is supported by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan.
Iraq has welcomed the US-led attacks on jihadist groups including the Islamic State organisation.
France sent Rafale fighters into action in Iraq last week, while British media said parliament could be recalled as early as Friday to decide whether to join up.
But Paris and London have both said they will not join the US-led operation in Syria.