Palmyra strikes: 'Probably' the worst Israeli strikes in Syria, according to UN

The Israeli strikes that killed dozens of people in Palmyra on Wednesday are “probably the deadliest” to have targeted Syria to date, a U.N. official said on Thursday, expressing wider concern at the escalating violence in the country. “Once again, Israeli strikes in Syria have increased significantly, both in frequency and in scope,” Najat Rochdi, deputy U.N. special envoy to Syria, told the Security Council.

“Yesterday [Wednesday], dozens of people were killed in a strike near Palmyra, probably the deadliest Israeli strike to date,” she estimated. Several Israeli strikes on Wednesday targeted the modern town adjacent to the Greco-Roman ruins of Palmyra, in the center of the country, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), a UK-based NGO with an extensive network of sources in Syria.

According to the latest OSDH figures, 79 pro-Iranian fighters were killed in these strikes, one of which hit a meeting of pro-Iranian groups with officials from the Iraqi Al-Noujaba and Lebanese Hezbollah movements. The Syrian Defense Ministry reported 36 dead. Generally speaking, “Israel says its strikes are aimed at targets linked to Iran, Hezbollah or Palestinian Islamic Jihad. But once again, we have seen civilian casualties, including in major strikes on residential areas in the heart of Damascus,” noted Rochdi.

She also worried about a “volatile situation” in the Golan Heights, and further violence “in many other theaters of operation,” notably in the northwest of the country. “This year is on track to be the most violent since 2020, and the risk of even greater devastation is on the horizon,” she warned.

Triggered in 2011 after the repression of anti-government protests, the war in Syria has claimed more than half a million lives and displaced millions. A cease-fire negotiated by Russia and Turkey was declared in northern Syria after a regime offensive in March 2020. But it is regularly violated.

“Clearly, the immediate priority for Syria is de-escalation. The country is battered by the relentless storms of a regional conflict and the rising waves of a conflict on its territory,” added Rochdi, alerting to the situation of the civilian population. “As humanitarian aid dwindles and hostile rhetoric and actions intensify, Syrians are being pushed into increasingly precarious and untenable conditions.”