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The chief of Israel's armed forces on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a recent airstrike on a convoy that had entered Syria from Iraq, claiming the target was a truck carrying weaponry.

Though he did not give a date for the event, describing it only as having taken place "several weeks ago", Lieutenant-General Aviv Kohavi appeared to be alluding to an 8 November attack that Iraqi officials at the time said destroyed two fuel trucks.

Were it not for Israeli intelligence, Kohavi told a conference hosted by Reichman University, "we might not have known that among the 25 trucks [in the convoy], that was the truck – truck number eight – that was the truck with the arms".

"There too, the pilots had to be sent. They had to know how to evade the ground-to-air missiles," he added, hinting that piloted jets were used for the distant mission. Iraqi officials had described the 8 November strike as the work of a drone.

For almost a decade, Israel has been carrying out airstrikes against suspected Iranian-sponsored weapons transfers and personnel deployments next door in Syria.

Israeli officials have rarely acknowledged responsibility for specific operations.

A regional official aligned with Iran said two Syrian nationals were killed in the 8 November airstrike.

Officials at the Iraq-Syria border were unaware of any Iranian casualties.

(Reuters)