Two Syrian regime soldiers have been killed and six others were wounded in an Israeli air strike over the Mediterranean port city of Tartus near the ancestral home region of Syrian regime leader President Bashar al Assad, Syrian state media reported.

It gave no details of the specific locations that were hit on Wednesday.

Israel has staged hundreds of strikes against alleged Iranian targets in Syria in recent years, but has mostly avoided hitting the coastal provinces where Russia's main military assets are concentrated.

Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment.

Close to Russian navy base

The strikes are part of an escalation of what has been a low-intensity conflict whose goal is to slow down Iran's growing entrenchment in Syria, Israeli and regional military experts say.

The strikes were close to the Russian navy's only Mediterranean base in the port of Tartus where Russian warships are docked, while Moscow's major Hmeymim air base is also in nearby Latakia province.