Israel has carried out a wave of airstrikes around Syria, claiming to have destroyed the country’s naval fleet and deployed troops beyond a demilitarized buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The defence minister, Israel Katz, said Israeli forces had been ordered to create a “sterile defence zone” in southern Syria. He gave no details, other than to say it would not have a permanent Israeli presence. He added the zone, would “prevent the establishment and organization of terror in Syria”.
