| 2024 Palmyra offensive | |||||||||
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| Part of the2024 Syrian opposition offensives during theSyrian civil war | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Syrian government   Hezbollah[2] | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Salem Turki al-Antri Abdulrazzaq Abu Khatib |  Unknown | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
On 6 December 2024, theUnited States–backedSyrian Free Army, with support fromSuqour al-Sham, launched an offensive from theAl-Tanf"deconfliction zone" on the ancient city ofPalmyra in the eastern area of theHoms Governorate. The United States reportedly gave logistical support to the opposition groups. The offensive came following setbacks by the government ofBashar al-Assad on other fronts, especially after thenorthwestern offensive byTahrir al-Sham.
TheSyrian Free Army (SFA) took control of Palmyra on 7 December after clashing with regime forces before going in the direction ofDamascus.
The SFA was told by theUS Special Forces based at Al-Tanf to prepare for a coming offensive. The SFA's ranks were bolstered in October 2024 by various units that had expanded the group from 800 to around 3,000 fighters, including a unit that had been trained inJordan by British forces to hunt down members ofISIS.[2]
TheSyrian Arab Army withdrew from the nearbyTiyas Air Base.[4]
The offensive was led by Abdulrazzaq Abu Khatib ofSuqour al-Sham, whose group, in addition to Hezbollah, took the most casualties of the battle.[2]
Al-Antri faced his former "tank unit" during the battle and told his men to firewarning shots.[5]
The groupscaptured Damascus the following day.[6]
As of mid-December,ISIS fighters were still on the outskirts of the city. Abu Khatib anticipated an offensive to start in January to flush them out.[2]
The SFA has established checkpoints betweenPalmyra and Al-Tanf, though the group is dealing with a large increase in the amount of area it controls.[7]
