“Reports circulating in some media outlets claiming that IDF forces are advancing or approaching Damascus are completely incorrect,” tweeted Col. Avichah Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic language spokesperson. “IDF forces are present inside the buffer zone and at defensive points close to the border in order to protect the Israeli border.”
He was contradicting a Reuters report saying Israeli forces had reached the southern village of Qatana, which is 10 km inside Syria and were within 25 km of Damascus.
As the government of Bashar Assad collapsed on Sunday, Israel sent forces into the 235 sq km buffer zone to prevent Syrian rebels from approaching the border. The move into the demilitarized zone was coordinated with peacekeepers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, which has been monitoring an Israeli-Syrian ceasefire since 1974.
The Israeli Air Force has been striking Syrian military facilities, arms depots, airbases and naval sites to prevent heavy weapons, aircraft and other assets from falling into the hands of Islamist rebels. Also hit were facilities used to produce chemical weapons and precision missiles, and sites used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and Hezbollah to smuggle weapons into Lebanon. Reports suggest Israel hit 300 targets in two days.
Israel has also begun efforts to reach out to Syrian minorities, including Druze communities in southern Syria and Syrian Kurds.The demilitarized zone was established in 1974 after the Yom Kippur War. Sunday’s move marked the first time that Israeli forces set up positions there. The army said the deployment is not intended to be permanent.
