In this photo released by Syrian official news agency SANA, firefighters work at the scene of a missile attack at the seaport of the coastal city of Latakia, Syria on December 28. Photo: VCG

An Israeli air strike hit the Syrian port of Latakia on Tuesday, the second such attack on the key facility this month, according to Syrian state media.

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

"At around 03:21 AM, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression with several missiles from the direction of the Mediterranean... targeting the container yard in Latakia port," Syrian state news agency SANA cited a military source as saying. 

The strike caused "significant material damage" and led to fires, the agency added. 

On December 7, Israel carried out strikes on an Iranian arms shipment at the port of  Latakia, located in President Bashar al-Assad's western Syrian heartland, without causing any casualties.

That was the first attack on the facility since the start of the war, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

While the Jewish state rarely comments on the strikes it carries out on its northern neighbor, it has repeatedly said it will not allow its archfoe Iran to extend a footprint in Syria.

In November, three soldiers and two Syrian fighters affiliated with Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah were killed in Israeli strikes, according to the monitoring group.