On Sunday, fighter jets attacked two depots near the Syrian capital of Damascus that were being used to store arms destined for Hizbollah.

The Syrian government blamed Israel for carrying out the attack while Israel, as in previous cases, refused to comment.

The two targets for the strike were buildings near Damascus International Airport and a military base close to the Syria-Lebanon border.

During and after the attack, Israeli jets were seen flying high over the area. The Syrian army general command said in a statement that the attacks were "aggression which prove Israel's direct involvement in terror within Syria alongside Western nations".

Syria's foreign ministry sent a complaint to the UN Security Council, accusing Israel of invading its territory.

Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar, which is aligned with Hizbollah, acknowledged on Monday that weapons belonging to the organisation had been the target of the attack and sources in Syria claimed that they included Iranian-built drones and anti-aircraft missiles.

This was the first attack on Syria attributed to Israel since October 2013, when a naval missile base was bombed. It was also the first such attack to be carried out in full daylight.

In February this year, a convoy reported to be taking missiles to Hizbollah was attacked in Lebanon, but Israel was not accused of carrying it out.

As in previous such attacks, government officials refused to comment. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in cabinet: "We are following what is happening in the Middle East very closely. Our hand is on the pulse all the time and we will deal with these unceasing threats."

Some opposition politicians accused Mr Netanyahu of ordering air strikes for political reasons, but it is highly unlikely that such an operation, which necessitates weeks of planning, would have been decided on since the break-up of the coalition last week.