The IDF on Sunday moved tanks and infantry troops into the demilitarized zone along the Israel-Syria border on the Golan Heights after the fall of the Assad regime, according to foreign media reports. The move is part of the military's emergency plan to prevent any incursion of Syrian rebel forces into Israeli territory.
On Saturday the military said it had reinforced its deployment along the border, including intelligence and reconnaissance units. Ground and aerial forces have been bolstered along the border, and sector readiness has been heightened. "The IDF is determined to prevent any violation of the sovereignty of the State of Israel," the military said in a statement.
Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli Air Force conducted a series of raids around the Syrian capital Damascus, targeting advanced weapons systems and warehouses before they fall into the hands of rebels who have taken control of the city. According to the reports, the air force bombed a chemical weapons storage facility.
Syrian rebels take down a statue of Bashar al- Assad
The reports also claimed that the IDF relayed a message to the rebel forces who have taken control of the Syrian Golan, not to cross into the Alfa Line – the demilitarized zone between the two countries.
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Foreign media reports overnight described an IDF strike on a convoy of Hezbollah fighters leaving the city of Al-Qusayr, in the governance of Homs, shortly before the area fell into rebel hands. At least 150 armored vehicles with hundreds of Hezbollah fighters were said to have left the city which served as a central hub for the transfer of weapons and operatives from Syria to Lebanon since 2013, when pro-Assad forces took control of the area.
Meanwhile the Golan regional council said that schools in the four Druze towns on the Golan Heights will only conduct distance learning on Sunday while in other communities, schools will be open.