(Updated with Israeli army spokesperson)
Israel on Tuesday refuted reports that its forces entered Syrian territory beyond the buffer zone with the Golan Heights.
Syrian sources said earlier in the day that IDF troops were about 25 kilometers southwest of Damascus, the capital.
Israeli soldiers entered the demilitarized zone on the border with Syria established following the Yom Kippur War in 1973, following the fall of Bashar al Assad's regime this weekend.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli army spokesman, said Israeli troops were in the buffer zone and “a few additional points” in the surrounding area, but he denied any significant advances in Syria at the time. beyond the area.
“The IDF forces are not advancing towards Damascus. This is not something we are doing or aiming for in any way,” he said during a press briefing.
“We are not involved in what is happening inside Syria, we are not a party to this conflict and we have no other interest than protecting our borders and the security of our citizens,” he added.
Israel's action, accompanied by a series of airstrikes, allowed the IDF to seize abandoned outposts on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, a strategic point overlooking Damascus. Israeli officials describe the measures as limited and temporary aimed at ensuring the security of their borders.
A Syrian security source said Tuesday that Israeli troops had reached the town of Qatana, southwest of Damascus, east of the demilitarized zone that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria, but a gate -Israeli military spokesperson denied this information.
ISRAELI STRIKES
Israel, which recently agreed to a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, is not seeking conflict with the new regime in Damascus and its takeover of the buffer zone is only a defensive action, according to the authorities.
However, Israeli planes have struck targets across Syria since last weekend, in an apparent bid to ensure that the Syrian army's military equipment, including fighter jets, missiles and weapons chemicals, do not fall into the hands of the rebels.
According to regional security sources and officials of the fallen Syrian army, Israeli airstrikes on military installations and air bases across Syria continued overnight from Monday to Tuesday. They destroyed dozens of helicopters and planes as well as equipment of the Republican Guard in Damascus and its surroundings.
Israeli media reported that the air force carried out up to 250 strikes. The military declined to confirm that number but confirmed it sought to prevent weapons from being seized and used by hostile enemies.
“We are acting to prevent deadly strategic weapons from falling into hostile hands. We have been doing this for years now, in different ways and in different situations, and we are doing it now,” Nadav Shoshani said.
Israeli officials said on Monday that Israel plans to step up airstrikes on Syria's stockpiles of advanced weapons
Israel, which seeks to ward off any future threat from its neighbor, also erected a new barrier on the Golan Heights in October.
(Writing by Maya Gebeily, Suleiman Al-Khalidi and James Mackenzie; French version Diana Mandiá, edited by Blandine Hénault and Kate Entringer)
