The Israel Defense Forces on Monday published video footage showing paratroopers entering Syria to protect the residents of northern Israel following the collapse of the regime led by President Bashar Assad.
“The combat team of the paratroopers and other forces is conducting ‘forward defense’ in the area to prevent any threat and is deployed in the buffer zone at strategic points,” the army said.
Soldiers of the 210th “Bashan” Division began proactive operations on Sunday night to ensure “the protection of the residents of the Golan Heights in light of the internal events in Syria,” the IDF added.
In addition, IDF infantry, armored and engineering units have been reinforced along the northern border to fend off possible threats.
Syrian President Bashar Assad fled Damascus on Sunday as rebel groups stormed the capital, ending his family’s five-decade rule.
Intelligence chiefs have warned that the collapse of the regime has the potential to create turmoil in which threats against Israel could develop.
Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered the IDF to create a secure area free of strategic weapons and terror infrastructure beyond the buffer zone with Syria, the Defense Ministry said earlier on Monday.
Katz said he had instructed the military to establish full control over the demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights, which was established under the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement between Damascus and Jerusalem that ended the 1973 Yom Kippur War.