IAF F-16 (file)
IAF F-16 (file)Flash 90

Syrian opposition sources claim the Israeli air force conducted airstrikes against Hezbollah positions in the mountainous Qalamoun region, along the border with Lebanon.

The alleged strikes were first reported by Syrian opposition outlet 7alpress, which claimed on Twitter that "two consecutive Israeli raids" targeted Hezbollah positions outside the town of Flita late Sunday night.

A subsequent report added that ambulance sirens were heard in Yabrud, southeast of Flita, "after Israeli aircraft targeted Hezbollah’s positions."

Lebanon's Now. news site cited several other rebel sources, some of whom said they counted as many as five strikes by aircraft on Hezbollah targets.

Other Lebanese media sources also reported on "unidentified" explosions in the area.

Israel is believed to have repeatedly struck Hezbollah positions and weapons convoys in Syria, as part of efforts to prevent the Iranian proxy group obtaining "game-changing" sophisticated weaponry, as well as to thwart attacks by Hezbollah and affiliated terrorist groups along the Golan Heights border with Israel.

The last reported Israeli air strike in Syria eliminated arch-terrorist Samir Kuntar, a one-time Hezbollah commander who was reportedly drafted by Iranian special forces to set up anti-Israel terror cells in southern Syria.

However, Israeli government officials have never commented openly about the strikes, as part of the government's policy of ambiguity regarding operations in the civil war-torn country. Despite the airstrikes Israel has largely managed to avoid being sucked into the bloody civil war.

The Qalamoun region is a strategically-important position recently seized by Hezbollah and pro-Assad militias from Syrian rebels, cutting off a crucial lifeline for opposition forces with supporters in Lebanon.