Damascus - Syrian state media have reported that Israel bombed a military position in Aleppo province late Sunday in what would be a rare Israeli attack so far north in the war-ravaged country.
Citing a military source, state news agency SANA said the missile attack hit near a strategic air base.
"The Zionist enemy (Israel)... targeted with its missiles one of our military positions north of the Neirab military airport, but the damage was only material," SANA said.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which very rarely confirms strikes on Syrian positions.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said it had recorded a wave of blasts around Neirab on Sunday night. Adding that at least nine pro-regime fighters were killed in the strike.
"They were caused by a missile attack, suspected to have been carried out by Israel, targeting positions held by Syria's regime and its allies at the Neirab airport and around it," the Britain-based monitor said.
Suspected Israeli air strikes have hit Syrian army positions near Damascus and in the central provinces of Homs and Hama in the past.
However, they rarely occur as far north as Aleppo.
Israel has repeatedly warned it will not tolerate an entrenched presence of its arch foe Iran in Syria.
Tehran has dispatched military advisors to bolster Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's efforts to fight back a seven-year uprising threatening his rule.
Syria rebels evacuate 'cradle' of uprising as Israel strikes north
Hundreds of Syrian rebels and their relatives left the southern city of Daraa on Sunday under a deal to bring the "cradle" of the country's uprising back under government control.
Just hours after the transfers, Syria accused its longtime enemy Israel of trying to support the rebels by targeting a Syrian army position in the war-ravaged country's north.
After securing Damascus in May, President Bashar Assad turned his attention to rebels in the strategic south, where protests against his rule first erupted in 2011.
Nearly three weeks of bombardment saw beleaguered rebels agree with Russia earlier this month to hand over Daraa province, before reaching a similar deal for its capital this week.
In recent days, rebels have handed heavy-duty arms and equipment to government forces who entered the city's rebel-held southern districts for the first time in years and raised the national flag.
On Sunday, rebels and civilians who did not want to live under government control were granted safe passage to opposition-held Idlib in Syria's northwest.
Hundreds of fighters and some relatives, carrying suitcases packed with clothes, boarded around 15 buses in Daraa city, AFP's correspondent there said.
"My heart is aching and in pieces. May God recompense us. What more can I say?" said Huzayfa Halawa, a 28-year-old rebel evacuated Sunday.
The government fully regaining Daraa will be a significant blow to the opposition.
