Israeli military have crossed into Syrian territory for the first time in 50 years to protect residents after Bashar al-Assad’s government fell. 

Troops seized a buffer zone in the Golan Heights established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayu confirmed on Sunday.

The Israeli military (IDF) said that it also sent troops to ‘other places necessary for its defense’, like the the Mount Hermon summit on the Syrian side of the border. It added that the force deployment was meant to provide security for residents.

IDF chief Herzi Halevi said that Israel had ‘deployed troops into Syrian territory’, confirming that troops were sent to the country for the first time in 50 years.

This came after a lightning rebel advance early on Sunday ended Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s rule in Syria, which triggered chaos in the country, with burning buildings illuminating the sky overnight.

Deposed president Bashar al-Assad and his family fled the country and have been given asylum in Moscow, Russian state media confirmed.

But US President Joe Biden said it was ‘a moment of risk and uncertainty’ because the Syrian rebels had a ‘grim record of terrorism’.

It came as Netanyahu said the decades-old ceasefire agreement had collapsed and Syrian troops had abandoned their positions, necessitating the Israeli takeover to protect Israeli residents.