A number of people were killed in Israeli airstrikes around the Syrian city of Aleppo, Syrian state media reported early Monday citing a military source.

The air attacks occurred around 12:20 a.m. local time (2320 CET), reports said.

The SANA news agency did not specify a death toll and said that the strikes were around the southeastern edge of Aleppo.

"The aggression led to a number of martyrs and some material losses," the state-run agency said.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that missiles had struck the positions of a pro-Iranian militia in the Hayan area north of Aleppo.

The NGO reported that at least 16 pro-regime fighters were killed in the overnight strikes, increasing the death toll from an initially reported 12.

The deaths were the result of "an Israeli airstrike on a position in the town of Hayyan, north of Aleppo, setting off strong explosions in a factory," the observatory said.

Israel did not immediately comment on the strikes.

Israel rarely comments on individual strikes in Syria, but it has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran to expand its presence there.

The overnight strikes mark the second reported attack on the country in less than a week.

On May 29, Israeli airstrikes in central Syria as well as the coastal city of Baniyas killed a child and injured 10 civilians, according to Syrian state media.

Syria and Israel have been at war since Israel's founding in 1948.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on its northern neighbor since the start of Syria's civil war, mainly targeting army positions and Iran-backed fighters, including from the militant group Hezbollah.

Iran is one of Syria's most important allies.

The strikes have increased since the outbreak of its war with Hamas in Gaza, following the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas on Israel.

dvv/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)