Syrian soldier killed, 3 wounded after ‘Israeli attack’ south of Palmyra – state media

One soldier was killed and three others injured in an Israeli strike near the central city of Palmyra, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, which noted that a communications tower was targeted.

The attack near Palmyra came in the late hours of Wednesday night, killing one soldier and wounding three others, SANA reported, citing a military source that pinned the strikes on “the Israeli enemy.”

“The Israeli enemy carried out an air aggression from the direction of the al-Tanf area towards the Palmyra area, targeting a communications tower and some points surrounding it, which led to the death of a soldier, the wounding of three others and some material losses,” the source said.

Other unconfirmed reports circulating online indicated that missiles were spotted over al-Tanf, some 75 miles (122 kilometers) south of Palmyra, near the three-way Syria-Jordan-Iraq border.

While no actor has taken responsibility for the strikes, Tel Aviv has repeatedly bombed Syria throughout the country’s decade-long civil war, with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once acknowledging Israel had launched “hundreds” of attacks on Syrian territory. The IDF rarely confirms such strikes. 

The US military also continues to keep a presence in Syria, and launched a lethal airstrike on Idlib province as recently as September 20, claiming to have killed a “senior al-Qaeda leader.” Jihadist factions have operated in Idlib for years, after the Syrian military – with the aid of Russian airpower and Iranian ground forces – gradually retook the country from jihadist control, striking reconciliation deals with more moderate militants that allowed them to flee to Idlib. The majority of the remaining rebels have now been consolidated in the province, losing their hold over large swathes of Syria despite years of support from outside powers, including the US, Britain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.

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