maintenance and emergency interventions, which caused further deterioration of the site.The Russian MOD has not further defined the term “temporary” as potentially entailingweeks, months or years, but the 18-month occupation of Camp Alpha resulted in significant and often irreversible damage. If Russian military forces have not already undertaken preventative mitigation efforts to counteract the negative impacts of militarization and are not in consultation with the DGAM, the already poorly preserved archaeological features in the Northern Necropolis of Palmyra could suffer the same types of damage documented at Babylon.

The actions of the Russian MOD may potentially represent a violation of Article 4 of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, commonly known as the 1954 Hague Convention. The Russian Federation is a State Party to the Hague Convention and the First Protocol (1954). Paragraph 1 of Article 4 of the 1954 Hague Convention asks States Parties “to refrain from any use of the property and its immediate surroundings […] for purposes which are likely to expose it to destruction or damage.” Therefore, the question is not whether the Russian military camp is inside the World Heritage boundary or not — even if the camp is in the buffer zone or the immediate surrounding of the site, it violates Article 4 of the Convention. Placing a military camp inside the site or inside its immediate surrounding constitutes placing a “military objective” within the boundary of Palmyra, which may transform the site into a “military objective” as well, exposing the site to damage or destruction as a military target. According to the Customary International Humanitarian Law (CIHL), military objectives are: “those objects which by their nature, location, purpose or use make an effective contribution to military action and whose partial or total destruction, capture or neutralization, in the circumstances ruling at the time, offers a definite military advantage.” This definition was adopted by the Second Protocol to the Hague Convention in 1999. Although Russia is not a State Party to the Second Protocol, the rules of the CIHL can be applied in this case. Furthermore, the concept of military necessity, according to the Second Protocol, shall be judged on the basis of two conditions: 1. No other feasible alternative was available at the moment of the conduct of hostilities, and 2. The assessment of the situation by a commander was made from all sources reasonably available to him/her at the moment of the conduct of hostilities. While clearing mines from Palmyra is needed to ensure the safety of military personnel and civilians, it is not readily apparent that placing the base directly inside the archaeological zone constituted a military necessity given that there is an abundance of available open land just outside the site boundary.

Airstrikes continue to inflict significant damage to heritage sites across Syria. Multiple places of worship in Aleppo, Hasakah, and Homs Governorates were damaged, including up to 11 mosques in Aleppo city, and the Idlib Museum was struck for the second time in May. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Deir Semaan, also known as Saint Simeon, was also severely damaged, which has been documented by The Day After Heritage Protection Initiative site monitors. Additionally, a mosque in Fallujah was reportedly struck by US-led coalition airstrikes.

ISIL militants released propaganda photographs of the destruction of the Mashki and Adad Gates at Nineveh, which occurred during the previous reporting period.