Syria says Israel fires missiles towards Damascus

Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanon fired missiles toward areas near Damascus early on Monday, according to reports from the Syrian military, who said the country's air defences shot most of them down.

In a statement broadcast on Syrian state media, the military said that some of the missiles that made it to their targets near the Syrian capital, inflicting material damage but causing no casualties.

The Syrian military gave no further details about the attack or what it targeted specifically, but Syrian state TV said the attacks occurred near Damascus.

Israel has not commented on the Syrian report.

Israel has acknowledged carrying out scores of airstrikes in the past, most aimed at alleged Iranian weapons shipments believed to be bound for Hezbollah.

In recent months, Israeli officials have expressed concern that Hezbollah is trying to establish production facilities to make precision guided missiles.

Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces in Syria are fighting alongside Syrian government forces.

Israel has also in the past used Lebanon's airspace to launch attacks on Syria.

Last week, an Israeli airstrike targeted Iranian and Iran-backed fighters in the desert near the historic central Syrian town of Palmyra.

A Syrian opposition war monitoring group said the strike killed nine fighters, including six who were not Syrians.