Syrians say Israeli army within 25km of capital Damascus

Syrians said Israeli forces are within 25km of the capital Damascus, though they have denied they left the occupied Golan Heights.

Two regional security sources and one Syrian security source told Reuters on Tuesday that Israeli military forces reached the town of Qatana, located 10km into Syrian territory, east of the demilitarised zone that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria.

Israel has moved to take advantage of the Sunday overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad and has been launching air strikes across Syria in what it says is an attempt to prevent advanced weaponry falling into the wrong hands.

According to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights (SOHR), Israel has carried out 300 strikes across the country since Sunday.

Syrian media reported that the Israeli Air Force bombed the Latakia port on Monday, with strikes targeting Syrian naval assets.

Israel on Tuesday denied allegations it had moved its forces out of the Golan Heights, which it has been occupying since 1967.

"The reports circulated by some media outlets claiming that the Israeli Defense Forces (military) are advancing towards or nearing Damascus are completely false," military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X. "

"The IDF forces are stationed within the buffer zone and at defensive points near the border in order to protect Israel's borders."

Strategic mountain seized

On Sunday, Israeli forces advanced from the occupied Golan Heights into a buffer zone between Israel and Syria, saying the end of Assad's rule meant that the 1974 "disengagement agreement" between the two countries had collapsed and "Syrian forces have abandoned their positions".

"I directed the [Israeli military] yesterday to seize the buffer zone and the commanding positions nearby. We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

However, several Israeli officials told The New York Times that Israeli forces advanced beyond the buffer zone and crossed several kilometres into Syrian territory.

Israel's military was in control of the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, a strategic position overlooking Syria and Lebanon, and several other locations, according to the report.

The Israeli military's chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, also said on Saturday night that Israel “deployed troops into Syrian territory”.

Halevi didn't elaborate, but his comments appear to conclude that Israeli forces advanced beyond the buffer zone.