Following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's government, Israeli troops moved into the demilitarised zone inside Syria created after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, including the Syrian side of the strategic Mount Hermon that overlooks Damascus, where it took over an abandoned Syrian military post.

More than four decades later, the entire international community - bar the US and Israel - considers the Golan Heights to be Syrian territory under Israeli occupation. In 2019, the US recognised the Golan Heights as Israeli sovereign territory during Donald Trump’s first term – becoming the only state to do so.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby had no answer when asked at Thursday's WH briefing what "temporary" means with regard to Israel's invasion of Syria to establish a buffer zone beyond the Golan Heights as former radicals take over the government from Bashar al-Assad: NIALL STANAGE,