Israel on Sunday claimed to have carried out air strikes in Syria after rockets were fired from the neighbouring country, AFP reported. Ten persons, including three Syrian soldiers, were killed in the strikes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The war monitor said the air strikes targeted Iranian troops and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

The Israeli Defense Forces said two rockets were fired from Syria at Mount Hermon in Golan Heights late on Saturday. One of these rockets fell into Israeli territory, they added. The Army said that in retaliation, it attacked “two Syrian artillery batteries, a number of observation and intelligence posts on the Golan Heights, and an SA-2 aerial defence battery”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a tweet that he had ordered the attacks. “Yesterday, I held security consultations on the Golan Heights, in which I instructed the IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] to take firm action, as we won’t tolerate fire at our territory and will respond forcefully to any aggression against us,” he tweeted.

The Syrian government-owned SANA news agency said Israel hit the Quneitra region, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and caused “material damage”, Al Jazeera reported.

Last week, Israeli aircraft had attacked a Syrian military post after the Army said an anti-aircraft missile was fired at one of its fighter jets, Al Jazeera reported. A Syrian soldier was killed in the attack. Israel has carried out hundreds of air attacks in Syria in the recent past, especially against alleged Iranian and Hezbollah targets.