October 5, as part of an apparent retaliation for a suicide blast that killed 20 people in the Israeli coastal town of Haifa a day earlier.
The army did not say whether air or ground forces carried out the attack, believed to be the first such strike against the neighboring state in two decades.
But the Reuters news agency and other Arab media quoted Palestinian sources as saying that Israeli war planes attacked the alleged Islamic Jihad training camp in Syria, just 20 kilometres (about 12 miles) from the Syrian capital, Damascus.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, but the attack was expected to further escalate tensions in the extremely volatile region.
TERROR GROUPS
"The Israel Defense Forces operated last night deep inside Syrian territory and hit a training base used by terror groups, including Islamic Jihad," the army statement said. It was believed to be the first time since the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon that Israeli forces have struck targets deep inside Syrian territory.
The reported air strikes came as relatives mourned the up to 20 people killed in the worst suicide blast in three years of violence. More than 50 people were reportedly wounded in the attack at a beachside restaurant in Haifa.
Several children, including a baby girl, were among the victims, reports said. Islamic Jihad, which has its headquarters in Syria, claimed responsibility for the explosion.
SYRIA WAS WARNED
Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner told reporters the Israeli action was justified as "Syria has been repeatedly warned by the United States to close all the facilities of the Islamic Jihad inside the country."
He stressed it was clear that Syria had ignored the demand and has only itself to blame for any Islamic Jihad bases in Syria that now come under attack.
Following the suicide bombing in Haifa it is now the policy of Israel to attack Islamic Jihad bases, "wherever they are," he added. Israel on Sunday also demolished the family home of the Palestinian woman bomber who carried out the attack in Haifa, the Voice of America (VOA) said.
The Israeli army reportedly warned all Palestinian militants and those who assist them that they will pay a price for attacks on Israeli citizens.
