Israeli helicopters fired several rockets on targets in southern Syria, Syrian state media reported early Friday.

"From the occupied Golan airspace, enemy Israeli helicopters attacked positions in the southern region with several missiles," Syria's official SANA news agency said shortly after midnight.

It was the latest in a series of Israeli attacks on the military sites in Syria. Since the start of the Syrian war in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, targeting government troops as well as allied Iranian forces.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army.

The strikes come after three civilians were killed when "missiles fell on houses" near the Syrian capital Damascus just before dawn on Monday, SANA said.

After Syria announced last Monday it had intercepted airstrikes by Israel near the capital Damascus, Israeli defense minister Naftali Bennett said that Israel would step up its campaign against Iran in Syria.

"We have moved from blocking Iran's entrenchment in Syria to forcing it out of there, and we will not stop," Bennett said.

"We will not allow more strategic threats to grow just across our borders without taking action, We will continue to take the fight to the enemy's territory," Bennett said.

Israel says Iran's military presence in Syria, where its militias are fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al Assad's forces, is a strategic threat and claims Tehran seeks a permanent presence along its northern borders.

The threat of direct confrontation between arch-enemies Israel and Iran has long simmered in Syria, with Israel regarding Iran as its biggest threat.

Assad has said Iranian forces are welcome to stay in Syria after years of military victories in which Iran and Russia have played a key role in bringing most of the country back under his control.

The Syrian conflict has killed more than 380,000 people since 2011 and forced more than half of the country's pre-war population from their homes.

(With input from agencies)