Israel strikes Syrian military sites while troops move into Golan Heights buffer zone

Israeli warplanes have conducted a number of air strikes in different part of Syria where military sites are located, while ground troops have seized a border buffer zone in the Golan Heights. Meanwhile, the Israeli defence minister has said that Syria's naval fleet was destroyed overnight on Monday.

In the immediate aftermath of the fall of the al-Assad government over the weekend, Israeli forces moved into the roughly 400-square-kilometre buffer zone inside Syria that had been established after the 1973 Mideast war, a move it said was taken to prevent attacks on its citizens.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has closely tracked the conflict since the civil war began in 2011, and Beirut-based Mayadeen TV, which has reporters in Syria, said Israeli troops are advancing up the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon and had come within 25 kilometres of Damascus, a claim which has been denied.

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.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel intended to establish a demilitarised zone in southern Syria.

Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem in Monday, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu has said the occupied territory of Golan Heights in Syria will remain part of Israel "for eternity".

Israel has a long history of seizing 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 1981 in a move not recognised by the