TEHRAN - Hebrew media has confirmed that the Israeli military has expanded its occupation of Syria to more than 370 square kilometers. 

Occupying more than 370 square kilometers of Syrian land would mean the Israeli regime has illegally grabbed Syrian territory that is larger than the besieged Gaza Strip, albeit far less inhabited. 

On Tuesday, reporters on the ground said Israeli infantry was advancing in some neighborhoods of the city of Hader in Quneitra province, southwestern Syria.

The Israeli news television channel i24 NEWS stated that Israeli ground forces destroyed Syrian army military sites and assets in southern Syria.

The Israeli news outlet indicated that the activity “was approved by the necessary levels given the sensitive mission,” clarifying that it “was carried out with the assistance of armored battalions deployed in the region and infantry fighters.”

The Israeli occupation forces have also confirmed these details, according to the channel.

According to the Israeli military correspondent Yinon Shalom Yitah, the operation targeted military infrastructure belonging to the Syrian army that was discovered in the area.

Since the fall of the Syrian president, the Israeli army continues to seize more territory in the Arab state, after occupying Jabal Sheikh (Mount Hermon) and the buffer zone in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

The occupation forces are now only 15 kilometers away from the international highway between Damascus and Beirut.

They have also seized the most significant freshwater sources in southern Syria, located along the Yarmouk River. 

For decades, a large portion of Syrian households and businesses have relied on these basins along the Yarmouk River for sanitized water supplies. 

The Israeli occupation continues its attacks on military positions to neutralize Syria’s combat capability. 

The Israeli army reported that its attacks over the past few days have “severely damaged Syria’s air defense system,” destroying “more than 90% of strategic surface-to-air missiles.”

Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces continue a ground invasion into southern Syria, expanding its control over new Syrian villages along the border with Lebanon.

Sources told regional media that Israeli occupation forces have brought in engineering equipment towards the slopes of Jabal Sheikh (Mount Hermon) in a bid to dig trenches and prevent any potential connection with Lebanese territories.

The same sources say it is called a “gap” because this area served as a main supply route for the Lebanese resistance Hezbollah before 2011. 

This was discussed during the recent war on Lebanon, as the Israeli occupation regime sought to prevent the Lebanese resistance’s access to it.

Military experts say Hezbollah is no longer dependent on a land route with Syria to acquire weapons. 

During the two-month Israeli war on Lebanon, Hezbollah drones proved the most effective in evading the Iron Dome and more advanced Israeli air defense systems. 

It was Hezbollah drones that left around 100 Israeli troops injured at a training camp for the elite 8200 Unit in the city of Binyamina. Hezbollah drones were also responsible for the damage inflicted on the house of the Israeli Prime Minister during the war. 

The supply of Hezbollah drones is widely believed to be homegrown, which means the resistance in Lebanon can manufacture more UAVs at a faster speed to replenish its stockpile. 

Hezbollah is also believed to have acquired the military knowledge to indigenously manufacture short, medium, and long-range missiles to preserve Lebanese sovereignty, experts say. 

Furthermore, analysts believe Hezbollah has only used a fraction of its long-range missiles, as was evident in the last days of the Israeli war on Lebanon when Tel Aviv came under extensive missile attack. 

All signs indicate the cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has exposed the lack of resistance by the new interim Syrian government to expand the illegal Israeli occupation further. 

On Sunday, the occupation regime decided to double its illegal settler population squatting on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. 

All pretexts about ending a supply route to Hezbollah are widely believed to be excuses to grab and annex more Syrian land.