War monitor says Israeli bombardment kills nine in Syria

Israeli bombardment has killed nine people in Syria as troops conducted a raid in the south, the local government and a war monitor said, with Israel's Defence Minister saying its military will remain in buffer zones within Syria.

The shelling came after an "Israeli incursion", with "the occupation forces advancing for the first time to this depth", the local government said in a statement posted to Telegram.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrians were local gunmen who were killed "while attempting to confront Israeli forces following calls by the mosques in the area for jihad against the Israeli incursion".

The Israeli military said its forces were responding to fire from militants.

The Israeli military said its troops were conducting operations in the Tasil area, near Nawa, "seizing weapons and destroying terrorist infrastructure" when "several gunmen fired at our forces".

They "responded by firing at them and eliminated several armed terrorists from the ground and from the air", a spokesperson said.

There were no Israeli casualties.

"The IDF (military) will not allow the existence of a military threat in Syria and will act against it," the spokesperson added.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military will remain in buffer zones within Syria and act against threats to its security, warning Syria's government it would pay a heavy price if it allowed forces hostile to Israel to enter.

In a statement, he said airstrikes yesterday in Hama and Damascus were "a clear message and a warning for the future - we will not allow the security of the State of Israel to be harmed".

Israel has also conducted hundreds of airstrikes on its neighbour since late last year, mostly targeting military sites and weapons systems.

The Israeli military said yesterday that it launched airstrikes on military airbases and infrastructure sites in the Syrian cities of Damascus, Hama and Homs.

The attack almost completely destroyed the Hama military airport and led to dozens of injuries among civilians and military personnel, the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded in February that southern Syria be completely demilitarised.

Israel and Syria have seen an increase in violence along the border after a new Islamist-led leadership was installed in Syria following President Bashar al-Assad's removal from power.

Syria's leadership has said it does not intend to open a front against Israel.

Mr Netanyahu said the Israeli government would not accept the presence of the forces of the new Islamist-led government near Israeli territory.

In December, as rebels were overthrowing Mr Assad in Damascus, Mr Netanyahu ordered Israeli troops to enter the UN-patrolled buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied and Syrian-controlled Golan Heights, where they remain.

Israel spent years carrying out airstrikes on Syria during the rule of Mr Assad, targeting Iran-linked military installations and weapons transfers from Tehran intended for the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which was deployed in Syrian territory.

That arms route was cut when Mr Assad was toppled but Israel has kept up its strikes on Syrian military bases.