Israel denied on Tuesday that its forces had penetrated into Syrian territory beyond the buffer zone with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, after Syrian sources said the incursion had extended to within 25 km (15 miles) of the capital Damascus.

Israel carried out a wave of heavy airstrikes across Syria as its troops advanced deeper into the country, a Syrian opposition war monitor said Tuesday, and the Israeli defense minister announced that his forces had destroyed Syria's navy.

An American who says he crossed into Syria on foot has been released after seven months in detention. Travis Timmerman told the Al-Arabiya TV network in an interview

The man, who identified himself as Travis Timmerman to reporters, said he had crossed into Syria from neighboring Lebanon on a “pilgrimage” to Damascus.

American is freed after being detained for seven months in Syria.

In just over a week, Syrian rebel forces seized much of Syria’s northwest. First, the rebels captured Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, then Hama and Homs. On Sunday, they entered Syria’s capital, Damascus, taking the city without a fight as government forces fled.

Najem al-Moussa was delighted when news of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's overthrow first beamed from the television in his tiny Athens apartment. Then came a dreaded thought: what if Assad's fall meant he and his family would be forced to return to the devastated country they had fled nine years before?

Assad fled to Moscow as opposition forces advance towards Damascus. Sources say Russian intelligence agents organized the escape, flying Assad out of a base in Syria before the aircraft's transponder was turned off to avoid being tracked.