Israeli air strikes hit the Damascus region overnight Sunday, the Syrian defence ministry said, with a war monitor reporting five wounded in attacks on air defence sites that host Hezbollah fighters. “At around 11:45 pm (2045 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial attack,” the defence ministry said. It targeted “certain positions in the vicinity of Damascus”, but anti-aircraft defences came into action and brought down several missiles, according to the ministry. It reported material damage but no casualties. An AFP reporter in the Syrian capital heard explosions shortly before midnight local time (2100 GMT). The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government air defence sites near Damascus where fighters from the Iran-backed Hezbollah group are present were targeted. One site north of the capital was around 10 kilometres (six miles) from the Lebanese border, it said, reporting five wounded. Another site between the airport and the Sayyida Zeinab area southeast of the capital where Iran-backed forces are present was also targeted, added the Britain-based war-monitor, which has a vast network of sources on the ground in Syria. In late March, Israel carried out two rounds of air strikes near Damascus in less than 24 hours. In early April, further strikes targeted points in the country’s south and in the vicinity of Damascus, state media and the Observatory reported.