Syrian defence ministry said Aleppo airport was damaged by missiles in what is the third Israeli attack in six months.

Marking the third attack on Aleppo airport in six months, Israel launched “a number of missiles from the Mediterranean Sea, west of the coastal city of Latakia, at 3:55 am” (00:55 GMT), the defence ministry said early on Wednesday in a statement on Facebook.

Earlier this month, Syrian state media said that an Israeli air raid on Aleppo’s airport had damaged a runway, which was taken out of service.

The attack on Aleppo’s airport, a city that was heavily damaged in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake, which hit southern Turkey and northwestern Syria in February, forced the rerouting of humanitarian aid to Damascus and Latakia, according to state media.

Israel has carried out hundreds of air attacks against Syria but rarely admits responsibility. Israeli officials say the attacks are aimed at suspected Iranian-sponsored weapons dumps and personnel.

The attacks are said to be part of an escalation of what has been a low-intensity conflict against what Israel describes as Iran-linked targets in Syria that support President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war, which started in 2011.