Damascus, Oct 24 (IANS): Israel launched airstrikes on the Syrian capital Damascus and a military site in the central province of Homs before daybreak on Thursday, killing one soldier and wounding seven others, the Syrian Defense Ministry said.

The attacks, which occurred around 3:40 a.m. local time (0040 GMT), were launched from the direction of the occupied Golan Heights and northern Lebanon, hitting two sites in Damascus' Kafr Sousa neighbourhood and one military site in the countryside of Homs, the ministry said in a statement, Xinhua reported.

The strikes caused material damage, the statement added without elaborating.

Huge explosions were heard in Damascus earlier in the day.

Earlier reports said a residential building in Kafr Sousa was targeted.

Israel has been carrying out strikes against what it said were Iranian-linked targets in Syria for years. However, both Syrian and Iranian governments have denied the existence of Iranian military forces or bases in Syria.

Israel has ramped up attacks on Syria with the escalation of Israel-Lebanon conflicts.