Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The death toll from the November 20 Israeli strikes on the city of Palmyra in central Syria has reached 82, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
The strikes hit several buildings in the city and its outskirts, including in a nearby industrial zone and close to the ancient ruins.
In a report released late on November 21, the SOHR said that the strikes killed 56 Syrian troops and pro-government fighters, including eight officers and warrant officers, as well as 22 foreign fighters, mostly from the Iraqi Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, and four members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
At least 31 other people were wounded by the strikes, including seven civilians, according to the London-based monitoring group.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack and a United Nations representative said that this was “likely the deadliest Israeli strike in Syria to date.”
“Once again Israeli airstrikes on Syria have increased significantly, both in frequency and scope,” Najat Rochdi, UN deputy special envoy to Syria, told the Security Council. “Just yesterday, we saw dozens killed in a strike near Palmyra –- likely the deadliest Israeli strike in Syria to date.”
According to the SOHR, the main target of the strikes was a joint meeting between Syrian pro-government forces, al-Nujaba and Hezbollah.
The pro-opposition monitoring group, run by a single person, has regularly been accused by Syrian war analysts of false reporting and inflating casualty numbers as well as inventing them wholesale. The official death toll from the strikes on Palmyra remains at 36.
Forces backed by Iran like al-Nujaba and Hezbollah do maintain some presence in Palmyra and other parts of central Syria, but only to counter ISIS remnants in the region.
Israel escalated its attacks on Syria after the outbreak of the war in the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip in October of last year, targeting Syrian military sites as well as personnel of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah and other factions of the so-called Axis of Resistance.
After expanding operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon in September, the Israeli military said that it will work to stop the supply of any weapons from Iran to Hezbollah through the Lebanese-Syrian border.
Syria, exhausted by over a decade of war, has so far refrained from responding to Israeli attacks, likely to avoid a dangerous confrontation.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
in the comment sections of ‘south front’ today, an unusual artistic (and autistic) performance is underway. our friend ‘snowden’, borrowing several pseudonyms, is attempting to imitate a monkey while disrupting the forum with absurd remarks and nato propaganda (which most of the time are the same). do not throw bananas. thank you for understanding.
bombing everywhere and winning nowhere.
when i need to explain jewish and anglo saxon behavior to people with low intelligence, i just say they play the children’s game of whack a mole while their opponents play the adult game of chess. bombsteins getting nowhere.i guess we can conclude, the jews love eternal strife. it must make them feel relevant
israeli diamond exchange, apparently one of the world’s biggest, located in the heart of tel aviv in ramat gan. its a tall building, hard to miss. it makes for a nice target. 32°05’02.0″n 34°48’07.6″e
perché la russia non difende la siria è sua alleata, è semplice protegge israele genocidio.
zionist subhumans are genocidal criminals and must face justice. nutteryahoo belongs in jail. palestine 🇵🇸 will be free. syria must hit back.
like i’ve been saying since the obama-biden unholy zionist-enslaved regime plotted the “syrian civil war”. assad defeated zionists. bibi is a wanted criminal, assad stands strong, who must go?. assad did nothing wrong. viva the aces of resistance.