Israeli denies its forces have gone past Syria buffer zone

Israel denied on Tuesday that its forces had penetrated into Syrian territory beyond the buffer zone with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, after Syrian sources said the incursion had extended to within 25 km (15 miles) of the capital Damascus.

Israeli troops moved into the buffer zone established following the 1973 Middle East war as the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad collapsed at the weekend in the face of rebel