Israeli warplanes struck a military base near the Syrian port city of Latakia this week , an Obama administration official told CNN on Thursday . An explosion at a missile storage site in the area was reported in the Middle Eastern press , but an attack has not been confirmed by the Israeli government . The target , according to the Obama administration official , was missiles and related equipment the Israelis felt might be transferred to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah . The official declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of the information . There was some confusion about the timing of the attack , with some reports saying it happened Wednesday , and others saying Thursday . When asked for comment , an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman told CNN : `` We do n't refer to foreign reports . '' Israel has been accused several other times this year of launching airstrikes inside Syria , including once in January . In the January incident , a U.S. official said Israeli fighter jets bombed a Syrian convoy suspected of moving weapons to Hezbollah . Israel 's military did not comment on any of the allegations at the time , but has long said it would target any transfer of weapons to Hezbollah or other groups designated as terrorists , as well as any effort to smuggle Syrian weapons into Lebanon that could threaten Israel . Thursday 's reports of a blast come amid a Syrian civil war in which Hezbollah , a Shiite Muslim militant group , has been helping Syrian government forces . Syria 's government is led by President Bashar al-Assad , a member of the Shiite offshoot Alawite sect ; the rebels and other militants fighting al-Assad 's forces and Hezbollah are largely made up of Sunni Muslims . The Syrian conflict began in March 2011 after government forces cracked down on peaceful protesters during the Arab Spring movement and is now a full-blown civil war . The United Nations estimates that more than 100,000 people have died in the conflict . On Thursday , the Syrian military took back control of al Safira , a town that is believed to house a chemical weapons production facility . Rebels withdrew from the strategic town , according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights . International inspectors are trying to ensure that Syria eliminates its chemical weapons stockpile by the middle of next year . Syria agreed to the program under international pressure earlier this year . One of the monitoring groups , the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons , said Thursday that Syria has destroyed all its declared chemical weapons mixing , filling and production facilities , and all of the chemical weapons at inspected sites have been placed under seal . The watchdog body 's announcement of the facilities ' destruction meant that Syria met a key deadline in the elimination program . The joint United Nations-OPCW mission visited 21 out of 23 sites , an OPCW statement said , and 39 of the 41 facilities at those sites . The remaining two sites were too dangerous for the inspectors to go to , it said , but Syria had declared those sites abandoned . The chemical weapons equipment there was moved to other sites , which were inspected .
The Syrian military regains control of the town of al Ain . Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman : ` ` We do n't listen to foreign reports '' U.S. Embassy : Targeted were missiles , equipment the Israelis felt might be useful to Hezbollah . Israel has long said it would oppose any transfer of weapons to Syria .