Israeli strikes killed eight soldiers in southern Syria on Wednesday and later targeted Aleppo airport for the fourth time in a fortnight, according to the defence ministry in Damascus. Israel said the first strike was in response to earlier rocket fire. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the strikes destroyed arms depots and a Syrian air defence radar, and also targeted an infantry unit. Israel occupied much of the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six Day War and has launched hundreds of air strikes on Syria since then.