The Israeli military has occupied several villages south of Damascus, with its tanks now being stationed around 20 kilometers from the outskirts of the Syrian capital, a new report says.
Lebanon's al-Mayadeen television network reported on Tuesday that the Israeli tanks have moved past the southwestern Syrian city of Quneitra and reached 3 kilometers away from the town of Qatana, near Damascus.
Israel started the push to expand its occupation of Syria on Sunday, after foreign-backed militants, led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), announced the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government following a rapid two-week offensive that led to the capture of Damascus.
Israeli forces seized the buffer zone that separates the occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria in violation of a 1974 disengagement agreement between the Tel Aviv regime and Syria.
They also captured the strategic Mount Hermon in Golan, which provides high ground for the entire area.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Syrian Golan Heights will remain part of the occupied territories “for eternity.”
Israel's exploitation of the current chaotic situation to deploy its occupation forces to Syria has drawn condemnations from regional countries.
“We condemn the fact that Israel has entered Syrian territory and taken control of the buffer zone,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said.
Similarly, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said, "The seizure of the buffer zone in the Golan Heights … confirms Israel’s continued violation of the rules of international law, and its determination to sabotage Syria’s chances of restoring its security, stability and territorial integrity.”
Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that the regime has carried out nearly 300 air raids on Syria over the past two days.
They added that if the aerial assaults continue at their current pace, the Syrian Air Force will be all but destroyed in a matter of days.
New Israeli strikes hit the Syrian city Salamiyah, in the eastern countryside of Hama Province, as well as military installations north of Raqqah, and the Shayrat air base in Homs' countryside.
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