Israel denied on Tuesday it had advanced into Syria beyond a buffer zone with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights since the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by rebel forces.

After his flight on Sunday ended 54 years of Assad family rule, Israeli troops moved into a demilitarised zone inside Syria set up after the 1973 Middle East war. Israel calls the incursion a temporary measure to ensure border security.

Paris calls military deployment in buffer zone “a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement” between Damascus and Tel Aviv.