Hizballah says Israeli airstrike on Syria 'historic mistake'

The leader of Lebanon's Hizballah group said on Friday that an Israeli airstrike on an airbase in central Syria was an "historic mistake".

Russia and the Syrian military blamed Israel for a pre-dawn missile attack on Monday which came hours after a suspected regime chemical attack in the rebel stronghold of Douma killed dozens of civilians.

At least 14 fighters, including Iranians, were killed in the strike on the T-4 airbase in Homs province. Israel's foreign ministry had no comment when asked about the accusations.

Hassan Nasrallah said Monday's attack on the T4 base ushers in a new phase of the war, putting Israel in a state of "direct confrontation" with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Nasrallah said the "targeted killing" of Iranians was an act of "grave foolishness".

Iran warned earlier this week that the airstrike in Syria which killed seven of its soldiers would not go unanswered.

Israel has not responded to accusations it carried out the airstrike but Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman told journalists on Tuesday it would "not allow Iranian entrenchment in Syria no matter the price to pay".

Speaking via satellite link to supporters in Beirut on Friday, Nasrallah also called the alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma "theatre".

Syria's regime and its allies, Moscow and Tehran, have denied any use of chemical weapons in Douma.

Assad and his supporters have consistently claimed that chemical and other attacks blamed on the regime were in fact staged, and that an army of actors including children has been trained to fake injury on a massive scale.