A war monitor reported on Monday that Hezbollah was withdrawing its fighters from parts of Syria as the Lebanese militia comes under fierce attack from Israel.
Hezbollah and Iran are key allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and have been fighting along his side since civil war erupted in 2011.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that militias loyal to Iran are flocking to the central Syrian city of Palmyra and desert areas to replace departing Hezbollah fighters.
The observatory said Hezbollah evacuated its headquarters in Palmyra and pulled out of surrounding areas. The headquarters was said to have been handed over to members of the Afghan Fatemiyoun Brigade. Other militias took over weapons depots in the region.
Hezbollah units in Syria have been decamping for the Syrian-Lebanese border region over the past several days, the monitor said, following an escalation in Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
Last week, thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by members of Hezbollah exploded. Israel strikes also hit a Beirut suburb as part of a military campaign targeting senior members of the movement.
On Monday, Israel launched a massive barrage of airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. At least 356 people have been killed and more than 1,200 others injured, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on Monday evening.
