ISRAEL attacked a military base next to Damascus airport yesterday, the Syrian armed forces said.

The official Sana news agency quoted military sources saying missiles were fired from the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan Heights.

The missiles hit a military positions southwest of the civilian Damascus International Airport at 3.42am yesterday. Video footage taken from a distance showed a huge blaze and several explosions.

The Syrian armed forces did not report any casualties, saying only the attack caused “material losses.”

It said: “The Israeli aggression comes as a desperate attempt to raise the collapsed morale of terrorist groups due to the Syrian army’s blows.

“This aggression will not dissuade the army from continuing the war against terrorism and crushing it.”

Tel Aviv did not admit to the attack, but Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said: “The incident in Syria corresponds completely with Israel’s policy to act to prevent Iran’s smuggling of advanced weapons via Syria to Hezbollah in Iran.”

Israel has also repeatedly attacked Syrian troops fighting al-Qaida and Isis in the east Golan, blaming Damascus when insurgent shells land in territory it occupies illegally.

Insurgent-linked sources claimed the attack hit an arms dump used by Hezbollah guerillas fighting with Syria’s army.

Western-backed Army of Islam took the opportunity of the attack to launch a counteroffensive from their stronghold in the east Damascus suburb of Ghouta.

The attack drew swift condemnation from Syria’s allies. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “Moscow condemns acts of aggression against Syria.”

She urged nations to “act within the framework of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria.”

Iranian Defence Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan said: “When it becomes worse for the terrorists, the strikes follow, bringing them a message saying: ‘We are defending and protecting you’.”

Also yesterday the Syrian Foreign Minsitry condemned France’s “lies and fabrications” on Wednesday tying Damascus to the alleged April 4 chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun.

France claimed sarin gas samples matched those from the 2013 Ghouta attack — responsibility for which is still disputed, with independent experts rejecting Western “evidence” pointing to government culpability.