Israel has responded after a Syrian security source accused Israeli forces of infiltrating Syrian territory, beyond the buffer zone with the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Israeli troops have moved into a buffer zone between the Golan Heights and Syrian territory, after the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was ousted by an opposition military coalition last weekend.
Israeli soldiers gather next to tanks in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights near the border with Syria on December 7.
With a series of intense airstrikes, Israeli special forces seized abandoned Syrian outposts on Mount Hermon, a strategic point overlooking the Syrian capital Damascus. Israeli officials called it a limited and temporary measure to secure their border.
Meanwhile, a Syrian security source today, December 10, accused Israeli soldiers of crossing the buffer zone and advancing about 10 km into Syrian territory, heading towards the city of Qatana, about 25 km from Damascus.
In response, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied the accusation. "Media reports about Israeli tanks allegedly advancing towards Damascus are false. IDF troops are stationed in the buffer zone, as previously stated," Reuters quoted an Israeli military official as saying.
Israeli officials have said Israel, which recently agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon after weeks of fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah, is not seeking conflict with the new military force controlling Damascus, according to Reuters.
However, Israeli warplanes have struck multiple targets across Syria since the weekend in an apparent effort to ensure Syrian military equipment, including warplanes, missiles and chemical weapons, does not fall into the hands of opposition forces, according to Reuters.
Israel welcomed the fall of the al-Assad regime, an ally of Iran, but has reacted cautiously to the leading opposition group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has roots in Islamist movements such as al-Qaeda and the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS), according to Reuters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on December 9 that Israel will use all the tools it has to ensure security after the fall of the al-Assad regime.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thuc-hu-chuyen-quan-doi-israel-tien-vao-lanh-tho-syria-185241210175002841.htm
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