Israel defended the moves as necessary security measures, but Syria accused it of trying to destabilize the country.

Elsewhere in the southern province of Daraa, 10 people were killed overnight in clashes between Israeli occupation forces and local residents in the Al-Jabaliya area, Syrian state media reported Thursday morning. The clashes erupted as the occupation forces carried out an incursion into the area, according to the state media in Syria.

By bna Cairo bureau At least nine people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes late on April 2 on southern Syria, according to Syrian state news media SANA. Following the strikes, Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned the latest wave of Israeli airstrikes that targeted military sites across four Syrian provinces of Hama,