Israeli army tanks and armored vehicles crossed the border fence marking the so-called Alpha line and entered the buffer zone which separates the Golan Heights from Syria on the night of December 8, after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad's regime by Islamist rebels.

Israeli troops are now engaged on "four fronts" as a result of new operations on the border of Syria and the Golan Heights, said Israeli military chief of staff Herzi Halevi.