The Israeli army announced, on Sunday evening, that it had kidnapped a Syrian citizen from within his country, claiming that he was working for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

This comes two days after the Israeli army kidnapped a Lebanese man from within his country, claiming that he was a military official in Hezbollah.

The Israeli army said in a statement: "In a night operation across the border with Syria, Egoz unit forces, under the command of the 210th Division, arrested an element of an Iranian network in Syrian territory."

He explained that the detainee is a Syrian named "Ali Suleiman Al-Asi", who resides in the city of Saida (affiliated with Daraa Governorate) in southern Syria.

He claimed that he "was working to collect information about (Israeli) forces in the border area (with Syria) for the Revolutionary Guards."

The Israeli army said it was investigating him, and did not specify the date of his kidnapping, but said he carried it out during the "recent months."

This is the first operation of its kind in Syrian territory announced by the Israeli army.

There was no comment from Damascus or Tehran on this matter until 17:30 GMT.