BEIRUT: Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanon fired missiles toward areas near Damascus early on Monday, the Syrian military said, claiming the country’s air defenses shot most of them down.

State media reported three civilians have died of the attacks, but the military earlier said it did not inflict any casualties - only material damage.

According to the statement, the attack took place around dawn. The Syrian military gave no further details about the attack or what it targeted specifically. Syrian state TV said the attacks occurred near Damascus.

Israel rarely confirms attacks and it did not comment on the latest missiles strike. Israel has said, however, that it has been behind a series of airstrikes mainly targeting Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces in Syria that are 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.

AP