Israel in

arms depot and a military radar installation, without specifying the locations.

The official SANA news agency added that “dozens of missiles were shot down by anti-aircraft systems in Syrian airspace,” acknowledging a number of missiles had reached their targets.

Israel’s military later confirmed it had carried out the raids, saying some 70 targets had been struck and all of its aircraft had returned safely.

The army’s Conricus said intelligence, logistics and storage facilities and vehicles were targeted as well as the origin of the rockets.

Syrian air defences, which fired dozens of times on Israeli forces, were also targeted, he said.

There had been no comment from Iranian officials.

Lieberman called the rocket fire “a new phase”.

“We don’t want an escalation, but won’t let anyone attack us or build an infrastructure to attack us in the future,” he said.

Russia’s defence ministry said 28 Israeli F-15 and F-16 planes took part in the raids with a total of around 70 missiles fired.

“My husband went out on to the balcony and saw the air defences,” said 27-year-old Rim, adding she and her family were awakened at their home in a western suburb of Damascus by the raids.

Israel has long warned that it will not accept Iran entrenching itself militarily in neighbouring Syria, where Tehran is supporting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in the country’s seven-year civil war.

Israel has been blamed for a series of recent strikes inside Syria that have killed Iranians, though it did not acknowledge those raids.

It does acknowledge carrying out dozens of raids in Syria to stop what it says are advanced arms deliveries to Iran-backed Hezbollah, another key foe of Israel.

Israel had been preparing itself for weeks for possible Iranian retaliation.

Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal has added to tensions and led to a new level of uncertainty over how Iran will respond.

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country has provided massive military and diplomatic backing to Assad’s regime.

“I told President Putin that it is the right of every state, certainly the right of Israel, to take the necessary steps in order to protect itself from this aggression,” Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to Iran’s presence in Syria.

Israel and Russia have established a hotline to avoid accidental clashes in the war-torn country.

Russia was informed in advance of Israel’s strikes on Thursday, Conricus said.

In February, Israel accused Iranian forces at the T-4 base in central Syria of sending a drone into Israeli territory.

After targeting Iranian units in Syria in retaliation, an Israeli F-16 was shot down by Syrian anti-aircraft fire.

Israel, which said the drone it downed had been armed, carried out what it called “large-scale” raids on Syrian air defence systems and Iranian targets in the country.

Netanyahu said Iran had crossed a “red line” by firing rockets at Israeli forces from Syria, leading to major Israeli air strikes on Thursday in the neighbouring country.

“Iran has crossed a red line. Our reaction was a consequence,” the Israeli leader said in a video posted on social media. “The Israeli army carried out an extensive attack against Iranian targets in Syria.”

Iran has not claimed responsibility for the rocket fire.