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.

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,