ISRAEL has launched an attack on an army position close to Damascus, according to Syrian state media.

The Sana news agency reported that the airstrike took place on Tuesday, just south of the capital city in the Kiswah area of the country. It said that Syria deployed its air defences to shoot down two Israeli missiles.

An official supporting the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad said that an army position had been the target of an attack.

The official with the Iran-led regional alliance added that the strike had killed two civilians – a Syrian man and his wife who happened to be passing by in their car.

He said there were jets in the sky but it was likely the position was targeted by surface-to-surface missiles from the Golan Heights.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the missiles targeted an arms depot containing rocket launchers that likely belonged to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards in Kisweh, killing nine people.

The group, which closely monitors the Syrian war through a network of activists on the ground, said it was not clear whether those killed were Revolutionary Guard members or members of a pro-Iranian militia. The report could not be independently confirmed.

Loud explosions were reported at the military base on Tuesday.

Iran is a ally of the Syrian government and has been during the country’s long civil war. It has aided the Assad regime by deploying hundreds of military advisers and thousands of militiamen to the country.

There are also claims that Iran has built a military base in the region where the attack is believed to have taken place.

The reported attack came an hour after US president Donald Trump announced he was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, calling Tehran a main exporter of terrorism in the region.

Ignoring calls from European leaders, including an appearance from UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on the US’s Fox News, Trump pressed ahead with the re-imposition of economic sanctions on the Iranian regime.

One supporter of Trump’s withdrawal, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu “fully supports” the move as he believes the deal has “increased Iranian aggression”.

As part of the deal, Iran had agreed to limit uranium enrichment – which can be used to make nuclear weapons – in order for sanctions to be lifted.

Israel has not commented on the reports as yet – it almost never confirms or denies air strikes in Syria – but has warned that it will respond severely to any aggressions against their nation.

It has previously said that it intends to stop what it considers Iran’s military “entrenchment” in Syria.

Such strikes have become more frequent recently, amid soaring tensions between regional arch-enemies Israel and Iran.

Iran has vowed to retaliate to recent Israeli strikes in Syria targeting Iranian outposts in the country.

They include an attack last month on Syria’s T4 air base in Homs province that killed seven Iranian military personnel, for which Tehran has vowed to retaliate.

On April 30, Israel was said to have struck government outposts in northern Syria, killing more than a dozen pro-government fighters, many of them Iranians.

Israel’s military, however, said its forces were on high alert near its border with Syria after spotting Iranian activity and was urging civilians in the Golan Heights near Syria to prepare bomb shelters.

Later, the Israeli military said in a statement it had called up some reservists but did not elaborate.

The military directive came “following the identification of irregular activity of Iranian forces in Syria”. It said defence systems have been deployed.

The military said it is prepared for “various scenarios” and warned that “any aggression against Israel will be met with a severe response”.

Israel has warned it will not tolerate Tehran establishing itself militarily on its doorstep in Syria.

Part of the Golan Heights was seized by Israel from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967. The majority of the Syrian residents at the time fled the area.

In a move condemned by the United Nations, Israel constructed settlements in the area and in 1981 extended Israeli law there. The area is still considered by the international community as sovereign Syrian territory.

The region has been a scene of continuous battle since the start of the civil war in Syria.