UPDATES DEATH TOLL, ADDS DETAILS, CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK
By Anadolu staff
ISTANBUL (AA) – At least 36 people were killed and more than 50 others injured in an Israeli airstrike in the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria on Wednesday, local media said.
The state news agency SANA, citing a military source, said Israeli warplanes carried out a strike from the direction of the Al-Tanf area in western Syria targeting several buildings in the city.
Extensive material damage was reported in the area.
Syrian state media earlier reported that the attack targeted residential buildings and an industrial zone in the city.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the report as of yet.
Israel, which rarely comments on military operations, has conducted airstrikes in Syria since 2011, with its focus on Iranian and Syrian forces and Hezbollah targets.
The latest airstrikes highlight continuing regional tensions amid Israel’s military offensives in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
Israel has continued a deadly offensive on Gaza since a Hamas attack last year, killing nearly 44,000 people, mostly women and children, and injuring over 104,000.
The conflict has spread to Lebanon, with Israel launching deadly strikes across the country in an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of the Gaza war.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala