The Israeli army said it carried out air strikes targeting military sites containing weapons in southern Syria on Tuesday, just days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for demilitarising the area.
At least two people were killed by a strike on one of the sites, the headquarters of a military unit southwest of Damascus, a war monitor said.
It was unable to confirm if the victims were civilian or military.
"Over the past few hours, the IDF (Israeli military) struck military targets in southern Syria including command centres and multiple sites containing weapons," the army said in a statement, without specifying the exact locations of the strikes.
"The presence of military forces and assets in the southern part of Syria pose a threat to the citizens of Israel. The IDF will continue to operate in order to remove any threat to the citizens of the State of Israel."
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two military sites south of the Syrian capital were targeted, as AFP correspondents reported hearing loud explosions and warplanes flying over the city.
The observatory said "Israeli aircraft carried out four strikes on a military unit's headquarters southwest of Damascus. Simultaneously, another Israeli strike hit a military position in Daraa province".
The strike in Daraa province hit Tell al-Hara, a strategic hilltop overlooking large areas of the Golan and northern Israel, according to the observatory
The latest strikes came after Netanyahu said on Sunday that southern Syria must be completely demilitarised, warning that Israel would not accept the presence of the forces of the new Syrian Islamist-led government near its territory.
"We will not allow forces from the HTS organisation or the new Syrian army to enter the area south of Damascus," Netanyahu said, referring to Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham which spearheaded the offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad in December.
"We demand the complete demilitarisation of southern Syria, including the Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda provinces," he said.
With AFP
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