Israel defence minister confirms air strike in Damascus

Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed the Israeli Air Force conducted an air strike in Damascus on Thursday, with the military saying it had struck a "command centre" of the Palestinian group.

A war monitor reported one person killed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that such strikes would be carried out in the region against "whoever attacks us".

Syrian state media said Israel had struck a building in Damascus.

"There will be no immunity for Islamic terrorism against Israel," Katz said in a statement. "We will not allow Syria to become a threat to the state of Israel."

Israel's military said the "command centre was used to plan and direct terrorist activities by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad" against Israel.

A source in the Islamic Jihad said a building belonging to the group had been hit by Israeli jets, adding there were "martyrs and wounded" in the strike.

Ismail Sindawi, Islamic Jihad's representative in Syria, told AFP the targeted building has been "closed for five years and nobody from the movement frequented it". Israel was just sending a message, Sindawi said.