Israeli armored vehicles seen in Syria buffer zone

As Syrian rebels captured the country’s capital Damascus over the weekend, neighboring Israel ordered its military to seize the buffer zone that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from the rest of Syria.

On Monday, CNN teams on the Israeli side of the zone saw armoured vehicles inside the Syria buffer zone, and troops stood by the military vehicles.

While visiting the Golan Heights on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Together with the defense minister, and with full backing from the cabinet, I directed the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) yesterday to take control of the buffer zone and the dominant positions near it… We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border.”

The buffer zone, a demilitarized area within Syria and administered by its government, was established in 1974 and was patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and annexed it in 1981.