Syrian State Media Reports 36 Fatalities in Israeli Air Strikes on Palmyra

Syrian state media has reported that Israeli air strikes targeting residential buildings and an industrial zone in the central Syrian town of Palmyra have resulted in at least 36 fatalities and 50 injuries. According to the Sana news agency, which cited a military source, Israeli jets launched an attack from the south, originating from the Jordanian border, at approximately 13:30 (10:30 GMT). The source added that these strikes inflicted substantial material damage. A UK-based monitoring group indicated that the strikes targeted a weapons depot and additional sites within and near an area housing families of Iran-backed militia fighters, leading to the deaths of 68 Syrian and foreign combatants. The Israeli military stated that it “did not comment on foreign reports.” Israel has previously acknowledged conducting hundreds of strikes in Syria over recent years, asserting that these operations targeted sites connected to Iran and its allied armed groups, including Hezbollah. Reports suggest that Israeli strikes in Syria have intensified in frequency since the commencement of the war in Gaza in October 2023. This increase is understood to be a response to cross-border attacks on northern Israel carried out by Hezbollah and other factions operating from Lebanon and Syria. Visual content, including videos and photographs, shared on social media after Wednesday’s strikes, seemingly depicted three substantial plumes of black smoke ascending from the Palmyra region. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring organization, cited its on-the-ground sources, indicating that Israeli fighter jets targeted three distinct locations within the town. According to the SOHR, two of these locations were situated in the al-Jamiya neighbourhood, one of which was a weapons depot adjacent to an industrial zone where families of Iran-backed fighters, including those of Iraqi and other foreign nationalities, reside. The SOHR further reported that the third site, located nearby, was struck during a meeting involving leaders of Iran-backed militias operating in Palmyra and the surrounding desert, alongside leaders from the Iraqi group Nujaba and Hezbollah. Initially, the SOHR reported 41 fatalities, but subsequently updated the death toll, stating it had increased to 68. The organization identified the deceased as 42 Syrian members of Iran-backed militias, 22 foreign members primarily from Nujaba, and four Lebanese members affiliated with Hezbollah. Last Thursday, Israel confirmed conducting multiple air strikes in Damascus, the Syrian capital, which Syrian state media reported resulted in 15 deaths. The Israeli military stated that it had targeted “terrorist infrastructure sites and command centres” belonging to the armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. On the preceding day, the military reported striking smuggling routes connecting Syria and Lebanon, which it asserted were utilized for transporting weapons from Iran to Hezbollah. This content is copyrighted by BBC, 2024, with all rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content found on external websites and provides information regarding its policy on external linking.