An Israeli Air Force F-15 fighter jet flies during an aerial demonstration. (photo credit: AMIR COHEN – REUTERS)
Late on October 13, a series of Israeli airstrikes hit the outskirts of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra in the eastern countryside of Homs.
A military source told the Syrian Arab News Agency that the aerial attack was launched from the southeastern area of al-Tanf, which is occupied by the US-led coalition and its proxies.
“At around 23:34 pm, 13-10-2021, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression from the direction of al-Tanf area towards the area of Palmyra, targeting a communications tower and some posts surrounding it,” the unnamed source said.
The source acknowledged that a Syrian service member was killed and three others were wounded as a result of the Israeli airstrikes. Iranian-backed forces are known to be present in the outskirts of Palmyra. They have not report any losses, yet.
Syrian air-defenses fired at the incoming Israeli missiles. However, it remains unclear if any of the missiles were in fact intercepted.
This was the second Israeli attack on central Syria in less than a week. On October 8, a series of airstrike hit the country’s largest air base, known as the T-4, in the eastern Homs countryside. The airstrikes, which hit an unidentified target near the base’s main runway and several radar and air-defense systems, were also launched from the airspace of al-Tanf.
Israel’s repeated attacks on Syria are supposedly meant to prevent Iranian entrenchment in the war-torn country. Yet, most of the recent attacks targeted equipment of the Syrian Arab Army, not Iranian-backed forces.
