Israel’s military has deployed a rocket defence system to the north of the country following reported Israeli airstrikes in neighbouring Syria targeting weapons believed to be destined for Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants.

Fighting has continued to rage on between government forces and rebels close the Syrian capital today.

Troops and tanks swept into a restive town near Damascus yesterday in an assault aimed at crushing opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, whose struggle for survival has dragged Syria into an increasingly bloody war.

Syrian regime forces shelled two central Damascus districts today before troops backed by tanks swept through to carry out house-to-house raids, killing at least 35 suspected rebels, in a major flare-up of fighting in the Syrian capital, activists said.