At least 36 people were killed on Wednesday (November 20) in Israeli strikes targeting the thousand-year-old city of Palmyra, in central Syria, the Syrian Defense Ministry said. These strikes, which targeted the modern city adjoining the ruins, are the deadliest in Syria since Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel entered into open conflict on September 23.
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Syrian state media say residential buildings were hit, as well as an industrial zone, in this city in the center of the country and in the Syrian desert which is home to thousand-year-old Greco-Roman temples listed as UNESCO world heritage sites. .
“ The Israeli enemy carried out an aerial attack (..) targeting a number of buildings in the Syrian desert town of Palmyra, killing 36 people, injuring more than 50 and causing significant property damage (..) “, the Syrian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
For its part, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) reported “ Israeli strikes targeting three separate areas in Palmyra », notably an arms depot near the industrial zone, where families of pro-Iranian fighters reside. These strikes, which targeted the modern city adjacent to the ruins, are the deadliest in Syria since the Hezbollah Lebanese and Israel entered into open conflict on September 23.
According to the OSDH, one of the strikes targeted a meeting of commanders of Iranian groups present in Palmyra and in the Syrian desert, with leaders of the pro-Iranian Iraqi movement of Al-Noujaba and Hezbollah.
Intensification of strikes since September 23
The NGO gave a heavier toll: 46 dead, including 18 pro-Iranian Syrian fighters, 22 non-Syrian fighters, most of the Iraqis from Al-Noujaba and a member of Lebanese Hezbollah as well as more than 50 wounded.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned “ in the strongest terms the brutal Israeli aggression against the city of Palmyra, which reflects the continuing crimes of Zionism against the countries of the region and their people “.
Since September 23, Israel has intensified its strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanonbut also in Syrian territory, where the powerful Lebanese movement supports the Damascus regime.
If Israel has been carrying out strikes for 10 years on Syria, Iran’s neighboring country, they gradually increased after October 7 and the start of the offensive on Gaza. Damascus is one of the forces standing alongside Hamas against Israel. With the launch of the Israeli operation on Lebanon two months ago, strikes in Syria have only increased in intensity.
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No direct damage to the city’s Greco-Roman temples
The city of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to millennia-old Greco-Roman temples, was controlled by the jihadists of the Islamic State group at the height of the Syrian civil conflict. They had looted it, in one of the greatest catastrophes inflicted on Syrian heritage.
The general director of antiquities and museums in Syria Nazir Awad confirmed to AFP that the city’s Greco-Roman temples ” did not suffer direct damage during the strikes on the neighboring residential area “. However, he qualified his remarks, affirming that he had to “ carry out a field survey to confirm these observations “.
Since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against the neighboring country, targeting the Syrian army and groups backed by Tehran.
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