By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli army forces have entered 2-10 kilometers deep within the demilitarized buffer zone along the border with Syria, an Israeli source said on Thursday.
"Israeli army forces are deployed 2-10 kilometers in the buffer zone on the border with Syria,” the source, who preferred to remain unnamed, told Anadolu.
He, however, declined to specify the Syrian villages in the buffer zone where the Israeli forces are deployed for "security reasons.”
Israel captured the buffer zone after anti-regime forces seized Damascus on Sunday, sending Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fleeing to Russia after a 13-year civil war and 53 years of his family rule.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also announced the collapse of a UN-monitored disengagement agreement with Syria, with the army mounting hundreds of airstrikes against military bases, air defense stations, and intelligence headquarters as well as long- and short-range missile depots and unconventional weapon stockpiles across the country.
Israeli forces now occupy parts of the demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights, much of which Israel has held since 1967.
According to the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), the buffer zone “extends over 75 kilometers in length and ranges in width from approximately 10 kilometers in the center to 200 meters in the far south.”
The Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth said Thursday that the Israeli army has taken control of seven villages within the buffer zone and five key sectors in the area.
According to the newspaper, the army is preparing for an extended presence in Syrian territory, ranging 5-7 kilometers beyond the international border, until a governing authority assumes control of the region and renegotiates the long-standing agreement between Israel and Syria.
Since 1967, Israel has occupied the Golan Heights. In 1974, a disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria was signed, which defined the borders of the buffer zone and established a demilitarized area.
Yedioth Ahronoth said the army is also accelerating the construction of engineering defenses in the area, with a 15-kilometer barrier being built east of Israel’s current security fence in the area.
The barrier includes deep trenches to block the movement of light vehicles, elevated earthen berms, and enhanced minefields, the same source said.
“These measures complement the high-tech security fence established over the past decade, which spans 80 kilometers from Hamah Gedair to Mount Hermon,” it added.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul