Israeli warplanes have fired missiles at the port of the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, causing large explosions and massive material damage, Syria said.

The attack early Tuesday morning was the second Israeli strike on the key facility in a month.

According to the official Syrian Arab News Agency SANA, "a large number of containers" resting in the port caught fire, causing “significant material damage”. It added that the airstrike wrecked the facades of a hospital as well as some residential buildings and shops.

“At around 3:21am (05:21 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression with several missiles from the direction of the Mediterranean … targeting the container yard in Latakia port,” the agency quoted an unnamed military source.

Live footage aired by the state television showed flames and smoke in the container storage area of the terminal, but later in the day Syrian media said that the fire was under control.

After the first strike on the port earlier in December, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett vowed that Israel would continue to push back against what he called "destructive forces" in the region.

Israel says the target of its attacks are Iranian supplies headed for the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Iran reportedly uses the terminal to transport munitions to its proxies in the region.