UPDATE 1-Syria says Israel hits southern Damascus area in second strike in week

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AMMAN, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The Syrian army said early on Wednesday that Israeli air strikes hit an area in the southern outskirts of Damascus where military defectors say there is a strong Iranian military presence, in the second such attack within a week.

A Syrian army statement said Israel struck from the occupied Golan Heights and caused only material damages.

Military defectors said the strike targeted a military base in Jabal Mane Heights close to the Syrian Golan Heights along the border with Israel that had been hit earlier.

Israel launched air raids against what it called a wide range of Syrian and Iranian targets in Syria last Wednesday.

Israel has frequently attacked what it says are Iranian-linked targets in Syria in recent years, and stepped up such attacks over the past year in what Western intelligence sources describe as a shadow war to reduce Iran's influence. (Reporting by Suleiman al Khalidi in Amman and Hesham Abdul Khalek in Cairo; Editing by Leslie Adler and Grant McCool)