An Associated Press journalist at the scene in Mazzeh said a five-story building was damaged by a missile that hit the basement.

Israeli airstrikes on a western neighbourhood of the Syrian capital Damascus killed at least 15 people on Thursday, Syrian state media said. The news agency, SANA, said the airstrikes on the Mazzeh neighbourhood in Damascus and the suburb of Qudsaya northwest of the capital struck two buildings, damaging a five-storey building.

Israel conducted a new airstrike in Syria's Homs countryside, targeting the Al Qusayr area close to the Lebanese border, Syria's state news agency SANA reported on Wednesday evening. According to the agency, Syrian air defenses “countered” the Israeli assault, though no additional details were immediately available.

Israeli officials were insisting on maintaining a capacity to strike Lebanon at any moment as part of conditions to secure a ceasefire with Iran-backed Hezbollah, said France’s foreign minister on Wednesday.