Israel's Netanyahu says 'enforcing red lines' after Syria strike

Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Sunday his country is taking action to stop its foes from acquiring sophisticated arms, hours after Damascus said Israeli missiles targeted its airport.

Israel has not officially confirmed or denied a report by Syrian state news agency SANA of an attack late Saturday on Damascus international airport.

"Israel is constantly working to prevent our enemies from arming themselves with advanced weaponry," Netanyahu's office quoted him as saying at the start of his cabinet's weekly meeting.

"Our red lines are as sharp as ever and our determination to enforce them is stronger than ever."

SANA quoted a Syrian military source as saying that air defences "shot down a number of hostile missiles" during the attack. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the strikes hit a weapons depot outside the airport.

Israel has vowed to prevent its arch-foe Iran, which is a main backer of the Assad regime, from gaining a military foothold in neighbouring war-torn Syria. 

Earlier this month, Israel acknowledged having carried out more than 200 strikes in Syria over the past 18 months, mainly against Iranian targets.

It has also admitted to striking Syria to prevent what it says are deliveries of advanced weaponry to Lebanon's Hizballah, an armed movement backed by Iran and which fights alongside Syrian troops. 

The last reported Israeli strikes on Syria took place on 4 September, when Syrian state media said the military's air defences downed several missiles in the coastal province of Tartus and in central Hama.