LONDON (Ma'an) -- Israel is considering to build a buffer zone reaching inside Syria to protect itself from fundamentalist rebels on the other side of the border, The Times reported Sunday.

The proposal is intended to secure the 47-mile border against a growing Islamist threat if President Bashar Assad’s embattled regime loses control of the area, according to the report.

It said the buffer would be modeled on the Lebanese security zone, which Israel patrolled jointly with the South Lebanon army 16 miles inside Lebanon from 1985 to 2000.

“We’ve presented the prime minister with a comprehensive plan to defend Israel’s border after, or perhaps before, the fall of Assad’s regime,” a military source is quoted as saying.