Syria state media reports Israeli attack on Homs province

Syrian state media reported an Israeli attack in central Homs province early Thursday, after an Israeli strike hit the country's south the previous day.

"An Israeli attack" targeted an industrial area in the town of Hassia, around 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of the city of Homs, state news agency SANA said, adding that "initial information" indicated the attack targeted a "car factory", reporting material damage.

Citing the manager of the industrial area, SANA reported the "air attack" targeted not only a factory but also vehicles "loaded with medical and relief supplies... which led to a large fire" that firefighters were working to extinguish.

Since Syria's civil war erupted in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, mainly targeting Assad regime positions and Iran-backed fighters, including Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Israeli authorities rarely comment on individual strikes in Syria, but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence there.

The attack came after state media said Israeli bombardment on Wednesday killed a policeman in southern Syria near the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, in a raid the Israeli army said killed a figure from Hezbollah inside Syria.

A day earlier, a strike blamed on Israel in the Damascus neighbourhood of Mazzeh killed seven civilians, authorities said, while a war monitor said the strike targeted a building used by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

On Sunday, the Syrian defence ministry said Israel had launched air strikes on military positions in central Syria, reporting "material losses" but no casualties.