Israeli army enters Syrian territory in Golan Heights

According to The New York Times, the move comes as former Syrian President Bashar Assad has fled the country which may stoke regional instability

The Israeli army has entered the demilitarized buffer zone between Israel and Syria near the Golan Heights, The New York Times (NYT) reported, citing two Israeli officials.

According to them, the move comes as former Syrian President Bashar Assad has fled the country which may stoke regional instability.

Herzi Halevi, the Israeli military chief of staff, said Israel had deployed its troops into Syrian territory, apparently confirming that the Jewish state’s army had gone beyond the buffer zone, the newspaper wrote.

Syria’s armed opposition forces launched a large-scale offensive on government troops in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates on November 27.

By the evening of December 7, Assad’s opponents seized several large cities, including Aleppo, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, Daraa, and Homs.

On Sunday morning, they entered Damascus as government troops withdrew from the city.

Following intra-Syrian talks, President Assad stepped down and fled the country.

On Sunday morning, the Israeli military said they had seized the buffer zone on the border with Syria.

What Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a defensive step came amid the latest developments in the Arab republic. The deployment is temporary, he insisted.