Overnight, the Israeli military released photos of its troops operating in the Mount Hermon area of Syria. This mountain stretches from the border between Syria and Lebanon, and the Golan Heights occupied by Israel.
After the ground offensive in Gaza, which began in October 2023, and the incursion into southern Lebanon in October 2024, Syria is the third country or territory into which Israeli troops have entered in the last 14 months, the Guardian reports.
The Israeli military has issued a warning to five towns in southern Syria, urging residents to stay at home "until further notice" due to ongoing combat operations in the area.
At a press conference in Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the invasion of Syria as a "limited and temporary" step, and stated that the airstrikes carried out by the Israeli army last night in the east of the country were aimed at "strategic weapons systems".
Israel took over the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and unilaterally annexed it in 1981. Today, the Israeli army released photos of its troops operating deeper inside Syrian territory, in the region of Mount Hermon.
According to the Times of Israel, Sar said that, following Israeli attacks inside Syria, the only interest his government has is "the security of Israel and its citizens."
"That is why we attacked strategic weapons systems, such as the remaining chemical weapons, long-range rockets and missiles, so that they would not fall into the hands of extremists," Saar said, according to the Guardian.
Israeli media also reported that Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the Israeli military to target targets inside Syria, including "surface-to-air missiles, air defense systems, surface-to-surface missiles, cruise missiles, long-range missiles, and shore-to-sea missiles."
In a statement to the media, the recently appointed minister stated that he had ordered the army to create a "security zone free of heavy strategic weapons and terrorist infrastructures".
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