JERUSALEM, Dec 8: The Israeli military said Sunday it had deployed forces to a demilitarised buffer zone in southwest Syria abutting the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights after Damascus fell to rebel forces.
Israel had already said the day before, as the Islamist-led rebels swiftly advanced across Syria, that its soldiers had entered the UN-patrolled buffer zone to assist peacekeepers in repelling an attack.
On Sunday, the army announced a troop deployment there, citing "the possible entry of armed individuals into the buffer zone".
"Following the recent events in Syria... the IDF (army) has deployed forces in the buffer zone and in several other places necessary for its defence, to ensure the safety of the communities of the Golan Heights and the citizens of Israel," a military statement said.
Israeli forces "will continue to operate as long as necessary in order to preserve the buffer zone and defend Israel", it added.
The statement stressed that the Israeli military "is not interfering with the internal events in Syria".
Since the rebel coalition, led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, began its renewed offensive against the forces of President Bashar al-Assad on November 27, Syrian government forces have left positions near the Israeli-held Golan, according to a war monitor.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said on Saturday that army forces had withdrawn from positions in Quneitra province, which includes part of the Golan Heights. —AFP
