An Israeli air attack on Syria's Aleppo airport Tuesday has damaged the runway and taken it out of service, Syrian state media quoted a military source as saying.

The Israel missile attack was launched from the Mediterranean Sea, west of the coastal city of Latakia, at 8:16 p.m. local time (1716 GMT), the source said.

Syrian air defences intercepted Israeli missiles, downing several of them, the Syrian state news agency (SANA) claimed earlier on Tuesday.

It was the second reported attack in less than week. On August 31, Israel fired rockets at the airport, which resulted in material damage, according to Syrian state media.

Israel has intensified strikes on Syrian airports to disrupt Tehran's increasing use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to allies in Syria and Lebanon including Hezbollah, regional diplomatic and intelligence sources told Reuters.

The Ukraine war and Russia’s distraction has given a freer hand to Israel to attack targets in Syria. Since mid-2017, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes against Iranian arms supplies and positions.

Tehran has adopted air transport as a more reliable means of ferrying military equipment to its forces and allied fighters in Syria, following disruptions to ground transfers.

Last week's attack damaged Aleppo airport just before the arrival of a plane from Iran, a commander in an Iran-backed regional alliance who was familiar with the incident told Reuters.