Israeli strikes killed 71 pro-Iran operatives in the Syrian city of Palmyra, with more than a third of them identified as fighters from Iraq and Lebanon, a monitor said Thursday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said those killed in Wednesday’s strikes included 45 fighters from pro-Iran Syrian groups, 26 foreign fighters, most of them from the Iraqi Al-Nujaba movement, and four from Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group.
The strikes targeted three sites in the city renowned for its ancient ruins, including one that hit a meeting of pro-Iranian groups with leaders from Al-Nujaba and Hezbollah.
Syria said the Israeli strikes on the central city killed 36 people and wounded more than 50 others, in the latest toll issued by the defence ministry.
“The Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of the Al-Tanf area, targeting a number of buildings in the city of Palmyra,” it said on Wednesday.
In a separate statement, 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 peoples”.
