Syrians spend time on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in the northwestern city of Latakia on July 7. Photo: CFP

An Israeli air strike hit a shipment of Iranian weapons in the Syrian port of Latakia Tuesday, in the first such attack on the key facility, a war monitor said.

The Israeli raid "directly targeted an Iranian weapons shipment in the container yard," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Syrian state media reported the strike on the container yard at Latakia port without specifying what was targeted.

The Observatory, a UK-based organization with a wide network of sources on the ground across Syria, said the raid triggered a series of explosions.

It reported "huge material losses" but added there were no immediate reports of casualties.

According to the Syrian state news agency SANA, the strike occurred at 1:23 am (2323 GMT Monday).

"Our air defenses repelled the Israeli aggression in Latakia," it said, adding that a number of containers caught fire in the strike.

Latakia is the northernmost of Syria's main ports, and lies around 230 kilometers north of Damascus.

Photos and footage published by SANA showed a fire in the yard but state television said later that firefighters had brought the blaze under control.

Israel rarely comments on the air strikes it carries out in Syria but has said repeatedly it will not allow its arch foe Iran to extend its footprint in Syria.

Since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syrian territory, targeting government positions as well as allied Iran-backed forces and Hezbollah fighters.

AFP