ISRAEL has pounded military planes and ships belonging to toppled president Assad with 300 airstrikes on Syria since Sunday.
Israel said the barrage of strikes was to stop the regime's weapons and military craft “falling into terrorist hands” following the rebel victory in Syria.
Meanwhile, Israel has denied reports IDF tanks have been spotted less than 20 miles from the capital Damascus - six miles beyond the agreed buffer zone.
The intense airstrikes over the past 48 hours were concentrated in western and southern Syria, near Damascus, and targeted both air and naval bases.
Israeli forces said their strikes in the early hours of Tuesday focussed on air defence systems and missile stockpiles.
On Monday evening, Syrian security forces said Israeli Air Force (IAF) jets had struck at least three major Syrian air bases that housed dozens of military aircraft.
Strikes were reported on the Qamishli airbase, northeast Syria, and the Shinshar base in the west on Monday night.
Dramatic footage captured the moment Israeli strikes on the Qamishli base, thought to house Iranian missiles, lit up the skies yesterday.
The IAF is believed to have been targeting a convoy carrying ammunition that was obliterated in the strikes.
Reporters on the scene in Qamishli said the remnants of anti-tank mines and unexploded mortars could be seen amongst the wreckage.
A centre for electronic warfare, a research centre near Damascus with reported links to chemicals weapons and a naval port were also bombed, according to reports.
Strikes on Monday night hit former Syrian navy ships in the Syrian port of Latakia, at the top of Syria's Mediterranean coast.
Footage has emerged showing orange fireballs erupting from what look like small ships in a harbour.
The Syrian navy was a relatively small force made up of small ships such as missile boats, minesweepers and patrol craft.
Iran has condemned Israel's “repeated violations of Syrian infrastructure” and seizure of Syrian land.
Qatar has also spoken out against Israel's recent action, saying it is unacceptable for Israel to "exploit" the situation in Syria and violate its sovereignty.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon described the military actions as “limited and temporary”, and said they were necessary to address immediate security threats.
He added: “Israel does not intervene in the internal Syrian conflict.”
By Patrick Harrington
Israel has been launching airstrikes at targets across Syria since Sunday.
The strikes are concentrated in the west and south, near the capital Damascus.
Most of the strikes are to destroy weapons and ammunition that belonged to President Assad’s forces.
Israel says it must act quickly to destroy the military equipment to stop it “falling into the hands of extremists”.
Many of the strike sites have been air bases, but Israel also targeted a naval base and a scientific research centre linked with chemical weapons.
There are legitimate fears that the coup in Syria could lead to a resurgence in ISIS forces, according to a UK terrorism lawmaker.
Jonathan Hall KC warned Syrian jails are holding "some of the most dangerous Islamic State fighters" who, if released, "would no doubt form a kernel" for a new wave of ISIS.
Meanwhile, there have been reports of Israeli tanks spotted “less than 20 miles” from Damascus after they entered Syria for the first time in 50 years.
After Syrian rebels ousted the tyrant President Assad, Israeli forces seized the Golan Heights region and other defensive positions.
Netanyahu said the “temporary” action was “to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel”.
The Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the Israeli sweep was "to prevent an October 7 scenario".
Syrian security sources said the Israeli military vehicles had reached Qatana, which is 10 kilometres east beyond the buffer zone separating Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria.
The IDF has denied that its forces have left the buffer zone separating Syria from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
They said: “It’s not true.
“The forces have not left the buffer zone.”
The IDF Arabic media spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, doubled down on the denial.
He said in a post on X: "Reports circulating in some media outlets claiming that IDF forces are advancing or approaching Damascus are completely incorrect.
“IDF forces are present inside the buffer zone and at defensive points close to the border in order to protect the Israeli border.”
Israel is not the only country to have pounded targets in Syria since the fall of Assad.
The US carried out dozens of airstrikes across central Syria on terrorist ISIS targets over the weekend.
More than 75 "precision airstrikes" were carried out on Sunday as fears over a power vacuum forming in the war-torn country grow.
President Joe Biden warned the toppling of Assad's regime was a "moment of risk and uncertainty" for the Middle East.
Biden warned that ISIS would exploit the regime change in Syria and attempt to reestablish itself.
He said: "We will not let that happen."
Biden confirmed the US would continue its involvement in the region to establish a transition to an "independent, sovereign and independent" Syria.
