IDF denies tanks nearing Damascus, confirms 250 weapons sites bombed

Arabic media reports Israeli tanks spotted on outskirts of Damascus as intense bombing campaign of weapons depots continues.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli tanks were present on Syrian soil just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Damascus, according to reports from Arabic-language media.

Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen reported seeing IDF tanks in Qatana, marking the Israeli military’s deepest incursion into Syrian territory in decades.

Qatana, a city in southern Syria with a significant Christian and Awalite population, is located to the east of Mount Hermon.

However, in an Arabic-language tweet, the IDF flatly denied the claims.

“The reports circulating in the media about the alleged advancement of Israeli tanks towards Damascus are false,” IDF Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adaree wrote on X.

“IDF troops are stationed within the buffer zone, as stated in the past.”

Two Israeli defense officials speaking anonymously to The New York Times said on Tuesday that Israeli ground forces had advanced into Syria, past the demilitarized zone (DMZ), for the first time since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

On Sunday, as the Syrian army withdrew from the area, Israel captured the side of Mount Hermon held by Syria, gaining full control of the strategic site.

“We gave the Israeli army the order to take over these positions to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday as he toured the border region. “This is a temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found.”

Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that he ordered the military to completely seize the DMZ and bolstered troop presence along the border.

The IDF has been engaged in a campaign to destroy “strategic weapons” in Syria that could potentially be obtained by rebel groups, including “surface-to-air missiles, air defense systems, surface-to-surface missiles, cruise missiles, long-range rockets, and coast-to-sea missiles,” Katz said in a statement.

Since the fall of Damascus on Sunday, the IDF is believed to have bombed at least 250 strategic military sites in Syria, including air force bases, chemical weapons research facilities, and weapons depots.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon stressed that the IDF was taking “limited and temporary measures” to ensure that the conflict within Syria would not spill over to Israeli territory.

“It is important to emphasize, however, that Israel is not intervening in the ongoing conflict between Syrian armed groups; our actions are solely focused on safeguarding our security,” Danon told the UN Security Council.