Israeli Army Enters City In Syrian Golan, Only 67 Km To Damascus

JAKARTA - Israeli tanks and military personnel have entered the city of Al Baath, which is 67 kilometers south of Damascus in Quneitra Province, Syria, according to reports by the Syrian newspaper Al Watan.

Israeli troops reportedly entered cultural center buildings, supplier agencies, state power companies, real estate banks and wheat storage facilities in the city.

As reported by ANTARA from Sputnik-OANA, the Israeli army demanded that Syrian government employees leave the building under the pretext of a search, based on reports from the newspaper.

Last week, Lebanese broadcaster Al Mayadeen reported the Israeli military had controlled about 600 square kilometers of territory in southern Syria, and built 13 combat positions there.

Israeli government chief Benjamin Netanyahu said in early December the agreement to withdraw troops with Syria in the Golan Heights, which was reached shortly after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, was no longer in effect, as the Syrian military had abandoned its position after the fall of the Bashar Assad regime.

Netanyahu ordered the Israeli army to occupy the demarcation zone and the position that controls it.

Meanwhile, Israel's defense chief, Israel Katz, gave orders to army units to prepare for winter in the Syrian part of the Golan Heights.

The Golan Heights was part of Syria until Israeli forces occupied the territory during the 1967 Six Day War. Israel and Syria agreed to a ceasefire and a power separation in 1973.

A year later, a number of UN peacekeeping posts appeared in the Golan Heights