79 fighters killed in Israeli strikes in Palmyra, according to new report

Seventy-nine pro-Iranian fighters were killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday in Palmyra, central Syria, an NGO said in a new assessment on Thursday.

One of the strikes targeted a meeting of pro-Iranian group commanders with officials from the Iraqi Al-Noujaba and Hezbollah movements, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).

The OSDH reported that 53 Syrians, members of pro-Iranian groups, and 22 foreigners, mostly Iraqis from Al-Noujaba but also four members of Hezbollah, were killed.

Three strikes targeted the modern town adjoining the Greco-Roman ruins, including an arms depot close to the industrial zone, according to OSDH, a UK-based NGO with an extensive network of sources in Syria.

Most of the fighters died during the meeting of the pro-Iranian groups, according to the same source. The previous OSDH death toll was 71. The Syrian Defense Ministry put the death toll at 36.

These strikes “are the deadliest on pro-Iranian groups in Syria since the start of the war” in that country in 2011, OSDH director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Since Sept. 23, Israel has stepped up its strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, but also in Syrian territory, where the party supports the Damascus regime.

Located in the Syrian desert and a UNESCO World Heritage site, Palmyra is home to thousand-year-old Greco-Roman temples. It had been controlled by the jihadists of the Islamic State group at the height of the Syrian civil war.

The Director General of Antiquities and Museums in Syria, Nazir Awad, told AFP that the Greco-Roman temples had “not suffered any direct damage from the strikes on the nearby residential area.”

Since the start of the civil war in Syria, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes against the neighboring country, targeting both the Syrian army and Tehran-backed groups. The Israeli army rarely confirms these strikes.

The war in Syria was triggered by the repression of a popular uprising that degenerated into civil war. It has claimed over half a million lives, devastated infrastructure and displaced millions of people.