Israeli military tanks near the buffer zone with Syria (Image: GETTY)
Israeli tanks have been accused of advancing six miles into Syrian territory on Tuesday, a claim swiftly denied by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
According to a Syrian security source, Israeli troops were said to have reached Qatana, a town approximately 13 miles from the capital, Damascus, and six miles beyond the demilitarised zone which separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria, days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
On Sunday, Israel instructed its forces to enter the UN-patrolled buffer zone and secure the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s claim to the territory, declaring yesterday that the Golan Heights, two-thirds of which have been under Israeli occupation for nearly 60 years, would remain “part of the Jewish state for eternity”.
The IDF dismissed reports of tank movements towards Damascus.
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Israeli military vehicles cross the fence as they return from the buffer zone witrh Syria, near the (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
A spokesman told The Telegraph: “The reports circulating in the media about the alleged advancement of Israeli tanks towards Damascus are false.
“IDF troops are stationed within the buffer zone, as stated in the past.”
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, has confirmed Israeli airstrikes have been targeting former Assad regime military installations throughout Syria to prevent their capture by extremist groups.
The strikes reportedly hit suspected chemical weapons storage facilities, research centres, air defence systems, and other military sites.
Israeli military vehicles are stationed close to the Druze village of Majdal Shams, by the fence sep (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
More than 300 such attacks have been reported since Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Sunday.
Israel has a long history of taking territory during wars with its neighbours and occupying it indefinitely, citing security concerns.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally, except by the United States.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has closely tracked the conflict since the civil war erupted almost 14 years ago, said Israel has carried out more than 300 airstrikes across the country since rebels overthrew Assad over the weekend, ending his family’s half-century rule.
The Observatory, and Beirut-based Mayadeen TV, which has reporters in Syria, said Israeli troops are advancing up the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon. It was not possible to independently confirm the reports.
An aerial photo shows Syrian naval ships destroyed in an overnight Israeli attack on the p (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Lt Col Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesperson, said: “The reports circulating in the media about the alleged advancement of Israeli tanks towards Damascus are false.”
He said Israeli troops are stationed within the buffer zone in order to protect Israel.
Israel’s military had previously said troops would enter the buffer zone “and several other places necessary for its defence.”
Posting on Facebook yesterday Mr Netanyahu – whose trial on corruption charges got underway today in Israel – said: “Yesterday, a new and dramatic chapter was opened in the history of the Middle East. Yesterday, the Assad regime in Syria, the main link in Iran’s axis of evil, crumbled after 54 years.
“Iran had invested billions in Syria, and it is all gone. This was a brutal dictatorship that trampled its citizens and slaughtered hundreds of thousands of them.
“And regarding us, it fostered hostility and hatred, attacked us in the Yom Kippur War, served as a forward position for Iranian terrorism and constituted a pipeline for the transfer of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah.”
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Israeli media meanwhile reported that the air force was methodically destroying Syria’s military assets to ensure whoever rules the country next would have to rebuild them.
The operations “have been systematically destroying all that remains of the escaped tyrant’s military,” wrote Yossi Yehoshua, the military correspondent for Israel’s largest daily newspaper, Yediot Ahronot.
“Dozens upon dozens of targets, including arms depots of various kinds, have been hit in waves of attacks so as to prevent them from falling into hostile hands and from posing a threat to Israel.”
The air force “currently enjoys complete freedom of action,” he added.
