Israel targeting Syria with airstrikes, state TV reports

Israeli soldiers operate in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights near the border with Syria, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. REUTERS/Gil Eliyahu

Israel targeted the vicinity of the Syrian capital of Damascus on Thursday, Syrian state Tv said.

Explosions were heard near the city and officials were trying to verify their nature, Reuters reported.

On Monday, an Israeli airstrike outside Damascus killed senior adviser in Iran's Revolutionary Guards, three security sources and Iranian state media said.

"I won't comment on foreign reports, these or others in the Middle East," IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in response to a reporter's question at a Monday night press conference about the strike. "The Israeli military obviously has a job to protect the security interests of Israel."