DAMASCUS, Sept 9, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Israeli air strikes hit areas of the central and western Syrian cities of Homs and Latakia late Monday, state news agency SANA reported.

Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that "the Israeli strike near Homs targeted a military unit south of the city."

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in December, despite initiating an unprecedented dialogue with the new authorities.

In late August, the Israeli army launched an aerial operation south of Damascus, according to a Syrian state media outlet.

Israel has not confirmed the attack but Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that forces operate "day and night" wherever necessary for the country's security.

SANA reported earlier this month that Israeli soldiers detained seven people in the southern province of Quneitra, whom the Israeli army told AFP at the time were "suspected of terrorist activity".

After Assad's fall, the Israeli army entered the demilitarised buffer zone of the Golan Heights, bordering the part of the Syrian plateau occupied by Israel, and its forces regularly conduct incursions into southern Syria.

Its troops hold positions in southern Syria. Syria and Israel have been officially at war since 1948 but are engaged in negotiations under US mediation to reduce tensions.