“The US did not support recent Israeli strikes,” State department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.

“We are engaging diplomatically with Israel and Syria at the highest levels, both to address the present crisis and reach a lasting agreement between the two sovereign states,” she said.

She declined to say if the US had expressed its displeasure with Israel or whether it would oppose future strikes on Syria.

Secretary of state Marco Rubio voiced concern when asked about the Israeli strikes, which included attacking the defence ministry in Damascus.

He later issued a statement that did not directly address the Israeli strikes but voiced broader concern about the violence.

Israel said it was intervening on behalf of the Druze community after communal clashes.

Israel has repeatedly been striking Syria, a historic adversary, since Islamist fighters in December overthrew Iranian-allied leader Bashar al-Assad.

US President Donald Trump, who spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday by telephone, has sided with Turkey and Saudi Arabia in seeking a better relationship with Syria under its new leader, former guerrilla Ahmed al-Sharaa.