Israel strikes Syrian regime positions kills and wounds many

Israel has launched a missile attack on western and central Syria, killing three Syrian soldiers and wounding three others, the Syrian regime said in a statement.

Israeli strikes on Sunday night targeted several positions in the coastal city of Tartus and suburbs of the capital Damascus, according to the regime. 

The regime military said that the missiles were fired by fighter jets flying over Lebanon, adding that the strikes caused material damage as well.

Syria's SANA media, citing military sources, said the forces were also confronting "hostile targets" over the Qalamoun mountains near the border with Lebanon.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the Israeli strike targeted a Syrian army air defence base in the area of Abu Afsa. 

It added that Iran-backed fighters are also usually at that base.

READ MORE: Syrian regime 'shoots down' Israeli missiles above Damascus

Israel's attacks

In early July, the Syrian regime said an Israeli strike conducted from the Mediterranean Sea near the town of Al Hamadiyah, south of Tartus, had wounded two civilians.

On Friday, Israeli shelling wounded two civilians in southern Syria near the occupied Golan Heights, according to state media.

Last month, an Israeli strike near Damascus killed three Syrian soldiers, regime media said. The Observatory said that strike targeted a military facility and an "Iranian weapons depot".

After the latest incident Israeli authorities told AFP news agency that they "do not comment on reports in the foreign media."

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria over the past years, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations.

Israel has acknowledged that it targets Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah which sent thousands of fighters to fight alongside Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad’s forces.

In June, Israeli airstrikes temporarily put Damascus International Airport out of commission.