Both Syria and its main ally Russia have blamed Israel for carrying out an attack on a major Syrian air base yesterday, reportedly killing 14 people.

It follows a suspected chemical attack on a rebel-held town Douma over the weekend where at least 40 people were killed, drawing condemnation from world powers including the UK, US and France.

The UN Security Council planned to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the chemical attack.

Opposition activists blame Syrian government forces, while Russia said that it had found no evidence of a chemical attack.

In the latest move, Russia and the Syrian military blamed Israel for a pre-dawn missile attack in the war-torn country yesterday.

Russia's defence ministry said the Israeli Air Force had launched eight missiles on a Syrian base near the city of Homs early on Monday.

A Syrian military official also said Israel was behind the attack.

Syrian state TV quoted the unnamed military official as saying Israeli F-15 warplanes had fired several missiles while flying over neighbouring Lebanon.

Syrian state news agency SANA, said: "The Israeli aggression on the T4 airport was carried out with F-15 planes that fired several missiles from above Lebanese land."

Some fourteen people, including Iranians, were reported killed in the attack.

Rami Abdurrahman, who leads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said most of the 14 killed were either Iranians or members of Iran-backed groups.

SANA had earlier reported that missiles struck the Tiyas facility, known as T4, was likely to be "an American aggression," US officials said the United States had not launched any air strikes on Syria, while the UK and France also denied involvement.

The Al-Manar TV station representing Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which is fighting in Syria alongside the government forces, described the attack as an "Israeli aggression".

The Observatory said it was not immediately clear who was behind the attack.

Earlier, President Donald Trump promised a "big price to pay" for the weekend's suspected chemical attack.

The US launched several dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian air base last year after a chemical attack in the northern Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun killed dozens of people. Israel has also struck inside Syria in recent years.

The suspected poison gas attack on Saturday on the besieged town of Douma came almost exactly a year after the US missile attack prompted by the Khan Sheikhoun deaths.

In response to the reports from Douma, Mr Trump on Sunday blamed Syrian government forces for what he called a "mindless CHEMICAL attack".

In a series of tweets, Mr Trump held Russia and Iran, Syrian President Bashar Assad's chief sponsors, responsible.

The Syrian government denied the allegations, calling them fabrications.

The UK called for an urgent inquiry while Pope Francis said nothing could justify using chemical weapons.

President Emmanuel Macron vowed to "co-ordinate a strong, joint response" with the US.

First responders entering apartments in Douma late on Saturday said they found bodies collapsed on floors, some foaming at the mouth.

Videos shot by rescue workers showed lifeless bodies of men, women and children.

The opposition's Syrian Civil Defence rescue organisation said the victims appeared to have suffocated.

They did not identify the substance used, but the civil defence organisation, also known as the White Helmets, and the Syrian American Medical Society, a medical relief organisation, said survivors treated at clinics smelled strongly of chlorine.

Though the death toll has been said to be more than 40, the reports could not be independently verified because of a government blockade around the town.

However the Union of Medical Care Organizations (UOSSM), a group of international aid agencies, said the toll was likely to rise.

"The numbers keep rising as relief workers struggle to gain access to the subterranean areas where gas has entered and hundreds of families had sought refuge," the group said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said no evidence has been found of a chemical weapons attack in the area.

Mr Lavrov said Russian specialists and aid workers had visited Douma, which rebel fighters have started leaving under a surrender deal.

"Our military specialists have visited this place, along with representatives of the Syrian Red Crescent... and they did not find any trace of chlorine or any other chemical substance used against civilians," he said.