Israeli tanks reach outskirts of Damascus in wake of gov’t fall

According to Al Mayadeen, the tanks advanced beyond the buffer zone, where Israel moved troops earlier this week, and were stationed near the southern village of Qatana, 21 kilometers from the Syrian capital.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has yet to comment on the information, Al Mayadeen added.

As Syrian rebels captured the country’s capital Damascus over the weekend, Israel ordered its military to seize the buffer zone that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that these actions were taken in response to recent developments in the Arab country and are of a “defensive nature”. He stated that the Syrian Golan Heights will remain part of the occupied territories “for eternity”.

The Israeli military has also launched airstrikes on at least 250 targets across Syria following the collapse of the al-Assad regime, Israel’s Army Radio reported Monday.

Beyond the land incursion, Israeli military has been bombing several targets across Syria since Al-Assad’s ouster on Sunday.

The Golan Heights was partly occupied by Israel in 1967, with a buffer zone separating territory they control and territory still held by Syria created in 1974.