The Israeli army carried out air strikes targeting military sites containing weapons in southern Syria late on Tuesday, just days after Benjamin Netanyahu called for demilitarising the area.

At least two people were killed by a strike on one of the sites, the headquarters of a military unit southwest of Damascus, a war monitor said. It was unknown whether the victims were civilian or military.

“Over the past few hours, the IDF (Israeli military) struck military targets in southern Syria including command centres and multiple sites containing weapons,” the army said in a statement, without specifying the exact locations of the strikes.

“The presence of military forces and assets in the southern part of Syria poses a threat to the citizens of Israel. The IDF will continue to operate in order to remove any threat to the citizens of the State of Israel.”

Israel Katz, Israeli defence minister, said the strikes were part of a “new policy” that aimed to ensure a “demilitarised southern Syria”.

He warned that “any attempt by the Syrian regime forces and the country’s terrorist organisations to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria will be met with fire”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two military sites south of the Syrian capital were targeted, as AFP correspondents reported hearing loud explosions and warplanes flying over the city.

The observatory said: “Israeli aircraft carried out four strikes on a military unit’s headquarters southwest of Damascus. Simultaneously, another Israeli strike hit a military position in Daraa province.”

The strike in Daraa province hit Tell al-Hara, a strategic hilltop overlooking large areas of the Golan and northern Israel, according to the observatory.

‘Completely demilitarised’

The latest strikes came after Mr Netanyahu said on Sunday that southern Syria must be completely demilitarised, warning that Israel would not accept the presence of the forces of the new Syrian Islamist-led government near its territory.

“We will not allow forces from the HTS organisation or the new Syrian army to enter the area south of Damascus,” Mr Netanyahu said, referring to Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which spearheaded the offensive that toppled Bashar al-Assad in December.

“We demand the complete demilitarisation of southern Syria, including the Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda provinces.”