At least 36 killed in Israeli strikes on Syria's Palmyra

Weapons warehouse struck and several Iran-backed fighters among the dead, war monitor says

The Jousieh border between Syria's Homs province and Lebanon is one of several recent targets of air strikes that Israel says are intended to disrupt Lebanese group Hezbollah's weapons supply routes. Show more

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Israeli air strikes on the Syrian city of Palmyra killed at least 36 people and injured dozens more on Wednesday, state media reported.

The strikes, launched at around 1.30pm from the Tanf area south of Palmyra, targeted residential buildings, Syria's Sana news agency reported, citing a military source.

"The aggression resulted in the death of 36 martyrs, the injury of more than 50 others, and the infliction of significant material damage to the targeted buildings and the surrounding area," the source said.

Palmyra is located in the desert in central Homs, Syria's largest province that extends from the border with Lebanon in the west to the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, which borders Iraq. Israel has claimed several recent air strikes in Homs, mainly in areas close to Lebanon, on what it says are targets linked to the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and its weapons supply routes from Iran.

The Israeli military did not acknowledge the strikes on Palmyra, a Unesco heritage site famed for its ruins.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said there were strikes on three targets, including a warehouse for weapons in the city's industrial area.

The dead included "four non-Syrian fighters from pro-Iran groups and seven of Syrian nationality", it said.

Israel's strikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria, including on the capital Damascus, have escalated since late September after it launched an intensive bombing campaign and ground invasion against Hezbollah in Lebanon.