Updates: Russian military aircraft 'disappears' during Syria strike attributed to Israel, France | Russia blames downed military aircraft, 15 Russians killed on Israel's 'deliberate provocations'

A series of unusual airstrikes on Syria were attributed to Israel on Monday night. The official SANA news agency reported that ten people were injured in the attack, eight of whom were shortly discharged after being admitted to a nearby hospital.

According to Syrian media, missiles were fired toward military targets close to three large cities in the north of Syria: Latakia, Homs and Hama.

Tech industries in Lattakia in flames after strike Credit: Zaid Benjamin / Twitter

In recent weeks there has been a significant uptick in the amount of reports attributing attacks to Israel. Previous attacks, according to foreign media, mostly targeted the area of the Damascus International Airport.

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Arab media has reported that the previous attack targeted weapons storage facilities situated in ammunition-manufacturing sites controlled by Iran.

The attack near Latakia is especially unusual because the port city is located near a Russian military base, the Khmeimim Air Force base. The base is home to Russian jet planes and an S-400 aerial defense system. According to Arab media reports, Israel has rarely struck that area since the Russians arrived there.

Syrian air defenses responded to several missiles that were fired at Latakia from the sea and succeeded in intercepting several of them before they hit, SANA quoted a military source as saying. Social media reports indicated that blasts were heard at a suburb near the port city.

The report comes hours after Russia declared that an offensive on Syria's Idlib, the rebel-held enclave in the war-torn country, was off the table.

Russia's Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Monday and announced that a demilitarized zone in the Idlib will be formed by October 15.

Earlier Monday, the Syrian Obesrvatory for Human Rights said that Israel killed 113 Iranians in strikes on Syria over the past month.

The report also alleged that 140 Iranian militants died as a result of Israeli strikes over the past five months.