Israel PM says will block 'Iranian aggression' after Syria strikes

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday Israel would not allow "Iranian aggression", after its military struck what it called Iranian targets in Syria in response to missile fire.

"Yesterday evening, the air force struck a strong blow against Iranian targets in Syria after Iran fired a missile from there toward Israel," Netanyahu said at an inauguration ceremony for a new airport in southern Israel.

"We do not allow such acts of aggression to pass by. We are acting against Iran and against the Syrian forces who are tools of Iranian aggression." Israel struck what it said were facilities belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force early Monday in response to a missile attack it blamed on Iran.

The surface-to-surface missile, fired towards the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Sunday and intercepted by air defences, followed an alleged Israeli strike in southern Syria.

The chain of events sparked concerns of an escalation, after a monitor reported 11 fighters killed in the overnight Israeli strikes.

Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria against what it says are Iranian military targets and advanced arms deliveries to Tehran-backed Hezbollah. It rarely publicly confirms them, though has in recent days spoken about the raids more openly.

Israel has pledged to keep arch-foe Iran from entrenching itself militarily in neighbouring Syria.