"At around 2:50 am (2350 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack... targeting one of the points near the southeast entrance of the city of Latakia," state news agency SANA said, citing a statement from a military source.

The attack wounded "two civilians and (caused) material damage to private property in the vicinity", it added.

SANA had earlier reported that "anti-aircraft defence intercepted hostile targets above Latakia" and that "fires were triggered by the Israeli aggression".

Strikes are rare on the port city, which is located near a Russian air base in Hmeimim.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the Israeli raid "targeted a weapons depot in Latakia city".

The Israeli military, which has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria in recent years, did not immediately comment on the Latakia bombing when contacted by AFP.

Israel rarely comments on individual strikes in Syria, but has repeatedly said it will not allow Syria and Hezbollah ally Iran to expand its influence there.

The Israeli military has intensified its strikes on Syria since the start of the war in neighbouring Lebanon.

Hezbollah has for years fought in support of Assad's government in Damascus, and Israel has accused it of relying on land routes through Syria to transfer weapons and equipment from its backer Iran into Lebanon.

Since the start of Syria's civil war in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, mainly targeting army positions and Iran-backed fighters, including Hezbollah.

On October 10, Syrian state media reported an Israeli attack on the central provinces of Homs and Hama, targeting a car assembly factory and a military position.

Days earlier, an Israeli air strike in Damascus killed seven civilians, the government said, while the Observatory reported a higher toll of 13 dead including nine civilians.

The Observatory on October 3 reported unidentified drones hit a weapons depot near Jableh, in Latakia province near Hmeimim, in an attack not reported by Syrian state media.