Videos and photos posted on social media after Wednesday’s strikes appear to be three large columns of black smoke rise from the Palmyra area, external.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, said, citing its sources on the ground, that Israeli warplanes had struck three locations in the city.
Two were in the Al-Jamia area, including an arms depot near an industrial zone populated by families of Iranian-backed militants, Iraqis and other foreign nationalities, the report said.
A third location was nearby and targeted a meeting attended by leaders of Iran-backed militias based in Palmyra and the surrounding desert, as well as leaders of the Iraqi Nujab and Hezbollah groups, the report added.
SOHR initially reported 41 dead, but later said the death toll had risen to 68.
They are identified as 42 Syrian members of an Iranian-backed militia and 22 foreign members, mostly from Nujaba, and four Lebanese members of Hezbollah.
Last Thursday, Israel confirmed it had carried out several airstrikes on the Syrian capital Damascus, killing 15 people, according to Syrian state media.
The Israeli military said it struck “terrorist infrastructure facilities and command centers” belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed group.
Earlier in the day, the military said it had discovered smuggling routes between Syria and Lebanon used to deliver weapons from Iran to Hezbollah.
