AFP, Damascus :
Two Israeli missiles struck targets near Damascus airport early Tuesday, Syrian state media said, while a monitoring group said they hit arms depots for Hezbollah.
In a report in the early hours of Tuesday, Syria’s state news agency Sana said “two Israeli missiles came down near Damascus international airport”.
The head of monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, also told AFP that “the Israeli missiles hit arms depots for Hezbollah near the airport”.
He said the air strike took place at 1:00 am local time “without causing huge explosions” even though they hit the weapons stores.
The observatory added that the Syrian air defence “failed to intercept the missiles”.
When contacted by AFP, a spokesman for the Israeli army said: “We do not comment on foreign reports.”
Israel has warned of a growing Iranian military presence in neighbouring Syria, which it sees as a threat to its safety.
Its military has been carrying out strikes on Iranian and Iran-affiliated targets in Syria, with a US official saying it was Israeli forces that carried out a deadly strike against an Iraqi paramilitary base in eastern Syria on June 17.
Israeli seized a large swathe of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, in a move never recognised by the international community.
Meanwhile, Syrian government forces took two villages in the southern province of Daraa overnight, a monitor and state media said on Tuesday, cutting off a pocket of rebel-held territory. The move means the northeastern part of the U-shaped piece of land the rebels hold is completely surrounded by government forces.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces took control of the villages of Basr al-Harir and Mlehat al-Atash in an overnight operation.
“The regime achieved its most significant advance since last Tuesday” when it ramped up its bombardment of rebel positions in Daraa, the Observatory said.
A military source cited by state television confirmed the army had seized both Basr al-Harir and Mlehat al-Atash.
For the government, the latest push means its forces in the heart of Daraa province and those in adjacent Sweida province are now directly connected.
The Britain-based Observatory said at least 15 rebels were killed in the latest battle, their bloodiest day since the government began ramping up its operations.
A total of 29 rebels and 24 pro-government fighters have been killed so far. At least 32 civilians have also lost their lives, the Observatory said.
