Amman: A massive blast near Damascus International Airport early on Thursday was caused by an Israeli air strike on warehouses and fuel tanks operated by a Syrian government ally.
Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz, speaking from the United States, where he has been meeting US officials, told Israeli Army Radio: "I can confirm that the incident in Syria corresponds completely with Israel's policy to act to prevent Iran's smuggling of advanced weapons via Syria to Hezbollah in Iran. Naturally, I don't want to elaborate on this."
"The Prime Minister has said that whenever we receive intelligence that indicated an intention to transfer advanced weapons to Hezbollah, we will act."
An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment. Syrian state TV said Syrian military positions were hit by the Israeli missiles.
Two senior rebel sources operating in the Damascus area cited their monitors in the eastern outskirts of the Syrian capital, where the airport is located, as saying five strikes had hit an ammunition depot used by Iran-backed militias.
Al-Manar television, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, said early indications were that the strikes caused only material damage and no human casualties.
Israeli officials have previously said they view any movement of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah units in Syria as a "red line" that would prompt it to carry out air strikes or artillery fire in the past.
A senior regional intelligence source who requested anonymity said the targeted depot handles a significant volume of weapons sent by air Iran, a leading ally of Assad in the region.
The source said many of the arms are destined for an array of Iran-backed militias, led by Hezbollah, which have thousands of fighters engaged in some of the toughest fronts against Syrian rebels.
Pro-Syrian government media and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights early reported a large blast near the airport and a resident of central Damascus, several kilometres away said it woke her from sleep.
Rebel sources said the attack caused a fire with flames appearing to come from a closed military area of the sprawling complex they believed was used by Tehran to supply weapons to Iranian-backed militias operating alongside the Syrian army.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is backed in the Syrian civil war by Russia, Iran and regional Shiite militias including Hezbollah, which is a close ally of Tehran and a sworn enemy of Israel.
The head of the Syrian Observatory Rami Abdel Rahman said the explosion was heard across the capital.
"The blast was huge and could be heard in Damascus," he said.
The dawn explosion has also been reported by other activists' networks.
Earlier, some social media users reported air strikes at Syria's Mezzeh Military Airport in Damascus as well as at the international airport.
On Twitter earlier, The Times of Israel also reported explosions at the military airport.
Report: Blasts near Damascus airport may be Israeli airstrike https://t.co/YUMpHKq0LU
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) April 27, 2017
Al Jazeera, quoting witnesses and "several activists networks", said there were two blasts, at the international airport and at Mezzeh Military base.
In January, the Syrian army command said Israel had fired rockets at a major military airport west of Damascus, and warned Israeli authorities of repercussions for what it called a "flagrant" attack.
Then, Syrian state television quoted the army as saying several rockets were fired from an area near Lake Tiberias in northern Israel just after midnight which landed in the compound of the airport, a major facility for elite Republican Guards. Israel in the past has targeted positions of Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah group inside Syria, where the Iranian-backed militant Islamist group is heavily involved in fighting alongside the Syrian army.
Reuters, Fairfax Media