Israel has ordered the “complete” seizure of a demilitarised buffer zone on its border with Syria and has not ruled out pushing further into the now rebel-held country.

For the first time in 50 years, Israel’s troops marched into the territory on the Syrian side of occupied Golan Heights on Sunday, as its warplanes dropped bombs on Bashar al-Assad’s leftover long-range weapons.

Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister, said that in order to “prevent an October 7 scenario from Syria”, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had “temporarily” taken control of the separation zone in south-west Syria.

With the Syrian regime forces gone, Israel wants to prevent the build-up of “hostile” forces on its border amid concerns the rebel groups might team up with jihadists to exploit the power vacuum left by the fall of Assad’s regime.