Israel carried out an airstrike on the Syrian international airport in Damascus and other positions south of the capital, killing five soldiers and causing material damage, the Syrian Ministry of Defense announced early this morning, reports Reuters.
"Syrian air defenses intercepted the attack and managed to shoot down most of the missiles," the ministry said in a statement.
There was no immediate confirmation whether the attack affected airport operations.
The Israeli military said it does not comment on foreign reports.
Israel has stepped up strikes on Syrian airfields to disrupt Iran's increasing use of air supply lines to deliver weapons to allies in Syria and Lebanon, including Hezbollah, regional diplomatic and intelligence sources told Reuters.
The Syrian state news agency Sana reported that five Syrian soldiers were killed last night in Israeli strikes near Damascus International Airport.
Sana also stated that material damage was done, and referred to a military source.
The missiles reportedly came from the northeastern side of the Sea of Galilee, targeting the airport and points south of Damascus, around 45 minutes after midnight local time.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that two Iranian-backed fighters and at least five Syrian soldiers were also killed in the strike.
According to the organization, Israel targeted the locations of Tehran-backed fighters near the Damascus airport and its surroundings.
Last month, Israeli strikes near Damascus and in the southern coastal province of Tartus killed three soldiers.
In addition, Israel attacked the airport in Aleppo in the north of Syria twice in a month. In June, after the attack, Damascus airport was closed for two weeks.
Since the start of Syria's civil war in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against the country targeting government forces and those of its Iran-backed Hezbollah ally.
Israel rarely confirms individual strikes but has admitted to conducting hundreds of strikes, saying it was "necessary to prevent the Iranian enemy" from gaining a foothold on Israel's borders.
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