Netanyahu entered the buffer zone on Tuesday, becoming the first Israeli leader to set foot in Syria.
Israel’s advances in Syria come as its forces are fighting a war in Gaza against the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Qatar, Egypt and the United States have renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire agreement.
Israeli bombings and attacks on Gaza have killed 45,000 Palestinians in the past 14 months, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry’s statistics do not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but say more than half of the dead were women and children.
Israel launched its operation in retaliation for an October 2023 attack by Hamas in southern Israel in which the militants killed nearly 1,200 people and kidnapped another 250, including 100 captives.