The defence ministry said women and children were among the dead in the strike on a residential and commercial building in the Mazzeh neighbourhood of the capital which is home to embassies and security headquarters.

It said the toll was preliminary as rescuers were still combing the rubble.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said: "Israel targeted a building frequented by senior Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah operatives, as well as a car parked in front of the building".

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said nine people were killed, five of them civilians including a child.

At least two of the dead were foreigners, the Observatory said, without specifying their nationality.

None of the dead were Iranian, the Iranian embassy in Damascus said.

Later Tuesday, the Syrian foreign ministry condemned "in the strongest terms this brutal crime against defenceless civilians" calling for "immediate measures" to stop Israel from dragging the region "into a confrontation that will have disastrous consequences".

AFPTV footage from the scene showed a building engulfed in smoke, with rubble and torn metal strewn on the ground.

Syrian state television said the strike caused "extensive" damage.

An AFP correspondent said the first three floors of the building had been destroyed and counted about 20 cars damaged by falling debris.

Last week, the Observatory said an Israeli strike on Mazzeh killed four people, including the son-in-law of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli air strike on south Beirut last month.