The collapse of the Assad regime has prompted a punishing military response from Israel, which has launched airstrikes at military targets across Syria and deployed ground troops both into and beyond a demilitarized buffer zone for the first time in 50 years.

By The Associated Press Israel said Tuesday it had bombed more than 350 military sites in Syria during the previous 48 hours, targeting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in

Israel has attacked Syrian military assets and has troops operating in the Golan buffer zone and slightly beyond.

Israel capitalized on the power vacuum in Syria to bomb targets across the country, saying it aims to keep weapons away from extremists.