ISRAELI air strikes killed at least five people and wounded 15 in a targeted attack on a residential district of the Syrian capital of Damascus earlier today.

Loud explosions were heard in the city centre and the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (Sana) reported that the country’s air defences were “confronting hostile targets in the sky around Damascus.”

In a statement, the Defence Ministry said: “The Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights targeting several areas in Damascus and its vicinity, including residential neighbourhoods.”