Israel on Thursday reportedly struck an arms supply hub operated by the Lebanese Hezbollah group near Damascus airport where weapons from Tehran are regularly sent by commercial and military cargo planes, Reuters reported.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is backed in the country's six-year civil war by Russia, Iran and regional Shi'ite militias including Hezbollah, which is a close ally of Tehran and a sworn enemy of Israel.
Israel’s Haaretz news said that their Intelligence Affairs Minister Yisrael Katz told Army Radio on Thursday morning that the attack in Syria was "entirely consistent with our policy to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah."
Katz however did not confirm Israel was behind it.
He did however say "the (Israeli) prime minister has said that whenever we receive intelligence that indicated an intention to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah, we will act," he was reported as saying.
An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment.
Local Israeli reports indicate that the airport compound was hit with five strikes at around 3:25 am local time. No injuries have been reported.
Reuters meanwhile reported that two senior rebel sources operating in the Damascus area cited their monitors in the eastern outskirts of the Syrian capital, where the airport is located, as saying five strikes had hit an ammunition depot used by Iran-backed militias.
Lebanon's al-Manar television, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, said early indications were that the strikes hit warehouses and fuel tanks and had caused only material damage and no human casualties.
Israeli officials have previously said they view any movement of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah units in Syria as a "red line" that would prompt it to carry out air strikes or artillery fire in the past.
The rebel sources said the attack caused a fire with flames appearing to come from a closed military area of the sprawling complex they believed was used by Tehran to supply weapons to Iranian-backed militias operating alongside the Syrian army, Reuters said.