'Israeli strike' hits suspected Hezbollah arms depot near Damascus airport

Israel says strike ‘in line with policy’ but does not take direct responsibility for attack believed to have targeted site handling weapons flown in from Iran

Israeli rockets have caused a massive explosion near Damascus airport, Syrian state media has reported.

As many as five missiles hit a military site southwest of the city at dawn on Thursday which caused “some material losses”, a military source said. Rebel and regional intelligence sources said the strike hit an arms supply hub, from which Lebanese militant group Hezbollah receives a steady stock of weapons from Iran.

The explosion was heard across the capital and in neighbouring towns, waking many, war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, and video broadcast by state television showed a column of fire that could been seen from miles away.

Israel largely stays out of the complicated conflict next door, although the border region is restive and authorities have retaliated to occasional stray rockets with reprisals.

Most Israeli air strikes in Syrian territory in the last few years have aimed to prevent weapons smuggling to Iranian-allied Hezbollah, which fights alongside Bashar al-Assad’s government against Syria’s rebels, although the Israel Defence Force (IDF) does not comment on the nature of the missions.

Hezbollah, like Iran, is committed to the destruction of the Jewish state.

On Thursday, Israel’s intelligence minister said the incident near Damascus “absolutely matches our declared policy, a policy that we also implement”, but stopped short of declaring Israel was responsible for the strike.

The most dramatic military skirmish between the Syrian regime and Israel since the civil war broke out in 2011 occurred last month when the Israeli military shot down one of several anti-aircraft Syrian rockets fired at its warplanes.

It is extremely rare for the Syrian authorities to retaliate to Israeli operations.