Israel's Prime Minister has led international praise of President Donald Trump's airstrikes on Syria - but Assad ally Russia have claimed it was an "act of aggression."

The US strike on the Bashar al-Assad controlled airbase near Homs, in the wake of a deadly poison gas attack in Syria, has won broad international support, according to Daily Mail.

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the strike saying it sent a "strong and clear" message that the use of chemical weapons will not be tolerated.

"Israel fully supports President Trump's decision and hopes that this message of resolve in the face of the Assad regime's horrific actions will resonate not only in Damascus, but in Tehran, Pyongyang and elsewhere," Netanyahu added.

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The attacks in neighboring Syria have worried Israel, which has warned against "game-changing" weapons reaching Hezbollah in Lebanon from Syria.

The Israeli leader and Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, hope America's actions will send a "significant message" to the likes of Iran and North Korea, where leaders have repeatedly ignored warnings against the use of such weapons.

The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that Israel, along with many other international allies, were informed by the US ahead of the military strike, which saw at least 59.

Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from two American naval destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean strike the Shayrat Airfield north of Damascus.

The strike was in retaliation for a deadly chemical weapons attack Tuesday in the northern Syrian province of Idlib that left at least 86 people dead.

Britain backed the US missile strike, describing it as an "appropriate response", as the government offered its full support to Trump's targeted assault.

A No 10 spokeswoman said: "The UK Government fully supports the US action, which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime, and is intended to deter further attacks."

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull agreed the strike was a swift response to a shocking war crime.

"The Australian Government strongly supports the swift and just response of the United States," Turnbull said on Friday.

"This was a proportionate response by the United States. It is not designed to overthrow the Assad regime.

"But we are not at war with the Assad regime and United States have made it clear that they are not seeking to overthrow the Assad regime."

Saudi Arabia also praised the "courageous decision" saying that the missile launch by Trump was the right response to "the crimes of this regime to its people in light of the failure of the international community to stop it."

Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia is a longtime opponent of Assad and has supported the rebels fighting against him. It also views the long-running war as a proxy conflict between it and its Middle East archrival, the Shiite power Iran.

Of course, not everyone welcomed the strike which Syrian officials labelled an "act of aggression."

Talal Barazi, the governor of Homs province, said the strikes had led to death and destruction at the airbase.

Iran has also "strongly condemned the US strike" warning that they would likely just lead to increased terror activity.

"Iran strongly condemns any such unilateral strikes," the Iranian news agency ISNA quotes foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying.

"Such measures will strengthen terrorists in Syria... and will complicate the situation in Syria and the region."

Qasemi added that the strike "is dangerous, destructive and violates the principles of international law."

Iran is one of the biggest supporters of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad. Its hard-line paramilitary Revolutionary Guard is deeply involved in the war.

America's Sunni Arab allies in the Gulf view Syria as a proxy conflict between it and Shiite power Iran.

Russia also denounced the strike as an "act of aggression against a UN member" and warned that the move could end cooperation between the Russian and US military branches.

Viktor Ozerov, head of the defense committee in the Russian Federation Council, told state news agency RIA that the US strikes "may undermine the efforts in the fight against terrorism in Syria."

"Russia will demand an urgent UN Security Council meeting after the US airstrike on Syrian aviation base. This is an act of aggression against a UN member."

It is an act of "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law", the Kremlin added.

Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the Kremlin-controlled upper house of parliament, has since warned that the strike has put an any prospective U.S.-Russian anti-terror coalition "to rest without even being born."

Kosachev added that "it's a pity," suggesting that Trump had been pressured to act by the Pentagon.

He added that while "Russian cruise missiles strike the terrorists, U.S. missiles strike Syrian government forces who are spearheading the fight against the terrorists."

The U.S. military fired 59 tomahawk missiles at the Assad controlled airfield on Thursday.

It's the toughest direct U.S. action yet in Syria's six-year-old civil war and raises the risk of confrontation with Russia and Iran - Assad's two main military backers.

The move came just hours after President Trump denounced this week's horrific chemical weapons attack as an "egregious crime", saying "it shouldn't have happened. And it shouldn't be allowed to happen."

President Trump, speaking from his Mar-a-Lago estate where he is entertaining the Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng as part of a two day summit, said the U.S. had to act after Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad launched the 'horrible chemical weapons attack' on innocent civilians.

"Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack," he said. "It was a slow and brutal death for so many."