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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) continues to expand its operations in the buffer zone adjacent to the occupied Golan Heights in southern Syria.
On January 30, a convoy of the IDF consisting of 6 vehicles, armored personnel carriers and a main battle tank advanced towards the road linking the towns of Jumla and Abdeen in the western countryside of Daraa, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The London-based monitoring group said that Israeli troops fired several flares and fighter jets of the Israeli Air Force flew over the region during the advance.
Separately, the IDF was accused by Syrian activists of setting fire to the governorate building in the city of al-Qunitra.
Israel invaded the buffer zone, which was established under the United Nations-sponsored 1974 separation of forces agreement, right after the fall of the Assad regime last month. In recent weeks, the IDF established seven posts in the region, including a one atop the strategic Mount Hermon.
Initially, Israeli officials described the presence of the IDF in the buffer zone as temporary. However earlier this week, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israeli troops will stay there “indefinitely.”
Syria’s transitional government, which was formed by the now-dissolved Islamist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, condemned Israel’s actions, but stopped short from making any military move. The fragile state of the war-torn country could encourage the Israeli government to expand its control in the south even more.
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