Israeli tanks were reported to have advanced six miles into Syria on Tuesday, sparking a denial from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

A Syrian security source told Reuters that Israeli troops were in Qatana, a town around 13 miles from Damascus and six miles beyond the demilitarised zone separating the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria.

On Sunday, Israel ordered its troops to move into the UN-patrolled buffer zone and seize the Syrian side of the occupied Golan Heights.

Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the Heights, two-thirds of which has been occupied by Israel for almost 60 years, will remain part of the Jewish state “for eternity”.

The IDF denied its forces had left the demilitarised buffer zone.

“The reports circulating in the media about the alleged advancement of Israeli tanks towards Damascus are false. IDF troops are stationed within the buffer zone, as stated in the past,” an IDF official told The Telegraph on Tuesday.

Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister, confirmed on Monday that IDF jets have also been striking former Assad regime military sites across Syria so that they “will not fall in the hands of extremists”.

The targeted sites include suspected chemical weapons depots, research bases, airports, navy ships and air defence systems. Over 300 attacks have been reported since Syrian rebels captured Damascus on Sunday.