Israeli warplanes pound Syria

Syrians pick up metal and unexploded ammunition after an Israeli airstrike in Qamishli

Israel carried out a wave of heavy airstrikes across Syria as its troops advanced deeper into the country, drawing to within 25 kilometres of the capital, a Syrian opposition war monitor said on Tuesday. Israel denied its forces were advancing toward Damascus.

Associated Press reporters in Damascus heard heavy airstrikes overnight and into Tuesday on the city and its suburbs. Photographs circulating online showed destroyed missile launchers, helicopters and warplanes. There was no immediate comment from the insurgent groups - led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS - that have taken control of Damascus.

Syrian naval ships destroyed during an Israeli attack on the port city of Latakia. Pics/AFP

Israel had earlier seized a roughly 400-square-kilometre buffer zone inside Syria that had been established after the 1973 Mideast war, a move it said was taken to prevent attacks in the aftermath of the overthrow of President Bashar Assad.

Israel has also said it is striking suspected chemical weapons sites and heavy weapons to prevent them from falling into the hands of extremists. Israel has a long history of seizing territory during wars with its neighbours and occupying it indefinitely, citing security concerns.Agencies

Netanyahu takes witness stand

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stand on Tuesday in his long-running trial for alleged corruption, setting off what's expected to be a weekslong spectacle that will draw unwelcome attention to his legal woes as he faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes and the fighting in Gaza continues. It is the first time a sitting Israeli prime minister takes the stand as a criminal defendant. "I waited eight years for this moment, to say the truth," Netanyahu said, standing at a podium in a packed Tel Aviv courtroom as he called the charges against him "an ocean of absurdness".

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