Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu admitted for the first time Tuesday that Israeli forces have been operating in Syria, where the Iran-backed regime is battling rebels including the jihadist "Islamic State" (ISIS).
"We occasionally carry out operations in Syria to prevent that country from becoming a front against us," Netanyahu told reporters during a visit to northern Israel.
"We also do everything to prevent weapons, particularly lethal ones, being moved from Syria to Lebanon," he added.