ISRAEL continued to pound Syria with heavy air strikes today as its troops advanced deeper into the country, according to eyewitnesses.

Israeli forces have continued to push into a buffer zone inside Syria following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad. Israel denied reports its troops have moved beyond this zone and are within a few miles of Damascus.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that it carried out more than 350 strikes in Syria over the last 48 hours, hitting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country to stop them from falling into the hands of extremists, adding it had destroyed the whole Syrian fleet.

Tel Aviv claims to have taken out air defence systems, military airfields, missile depots and dozens of weapons production sites in Damascus and other cities and destroyed two Syrian naval facilities. 

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the army will create a “defence zone free of weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria, without a permanent Israeli presence, in order to prevent terrorism in Syria from taking root.”

He gave few details but warned Syria’s new rulers that “whoever follows Assad's path will end up like Assad. We will not allow an extremist Islamic terrorist entity to act against Israel.”

Reporting from the Lebanon-Syria border, historian and journalist Craig Murray said the situation is entirely different “to the media narrative of a mass return of jubilant Syrian refugees. 

“There are officially 775,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon. The numbers returning are negligible.”

Independent journalist Matt Kennard posted on X that “Syria’s territory is being divided up between Israel, Turkey and the US. “

Drop Site News journalist Jeremy Scahil said: “Israel claims it has destroyed 70-80 per cent of Syria's strategic military capabilities. 

“The message is clear: No matter who governs Syria, Israel wants it defenceless.”

There was no immediate comment on the Israeli invasion from the insurgent groups — led by the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group — that have taken control of much of the country. 

But in a speech in Tehran today Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he had evidence that events in Syria are “the result of a joint American and zionist plan.”

He said: “A neighbouring state of Syria has played a clear role in this matter, and it continues to do so. Everyone can see this.”