Israel reveals September raid on Iran-funded missile factory in Syria

Israeli military discloses details of one of its most daring and complex operations ever, a covert raid by 120 special forces units to dismantle an underground Iranian missile factory deep in Syria.

Some of the reported 100 Israeli commandos raid a facility in Syria's Masyaf area near the Mediterranean coast, where the IDF says it dismantled an underground missile factory funded by Iran on September 8. Picture: Israeli Army/AFP

The Israeli military has revealed one of its most daring commando operations ever, in which 120 special forces units destroyed an underground Iranian missile factory deep in Syria in September.

The military, which rarely comments on its activities inside Syria, said in a statement that the facility in the Masyaf area near the Mediterranean coast was dismantled in the September 8 raid by commando soldiers.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported at the time that 27 people were killed in the raid. The Israeli military did not disclose any casualty figure.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since a civil war broke out there in 2011, mainly on Iranian-linked targets.

In a statement on Thursday, the military said the underground Masyaf compound “included advanced assembly lines designed to manufacture precision-guided missiles and long-range rockets” for Lebanon’s Hezbollah “and other Iranian terror proxies in the region”.

Troops were flown in on helicopters, “with fire and intelligence-gathering support from aircraft, fighter jets and naval vessels”, it said.

Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told journalists in an online briefing that “this precision-guided missile factory was dug in the side of a mountain underground in the area of Masyaf”.

“Most components in fact were sourced from Iran for precision-guided missiles and surface-to-surface missiles,” he said.

The facility had the capacity to manufacture hundreds of missile annually, Lieutenant Shoshani said.

Syrian state media reported on September 9 that overnight Israeli strikes in the Masyaf area had killed 14 people, with a war monitor reporting a higher death toll in raids on sensitive military sites. Picture: SANA/AFP

The Observatory said the facility was created and supervised by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

Tehran at the time condemned the raid as a “criminal attack”. Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi, who oversaw the operation, said it was part of “a series of courageous missions” across the Middle East “with the aim of destroying the Iranian axis’ missile manufacturing capabilities”.

General Halevi, according to a military statement, noted other raids in the Gaza Strip, in Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold and on Iranian territory “over the past few months”.

“For years, Iran formed a ring of rocket and missile fire around Israel’s borders, and we have struck both the ring and its head,” he said.

Footage of the raid, released by the military on Thursday, showed soldiers boarding helicopters at a base and later landing at the target inside Syria.

The troops can be seen entering the compound as gunfire echoes in the background. Grainy images later depict soldiers returning to their base.

The military statement said critical machinery and documents found at the factory were brought to Israel for further investigation.

“The soldiers destroyed the compound and safely returned to Israeli territory,” it said.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory, told AFP after the raid that intense air strikes preceded it, destroying a separate “scientific research centre” in Masyaf used for weapons development and where Iranian experts worked.

Syria, until last month under Iran-backed president Bashar al-Assad, has sought to stay out of the Israel-Hamas conflict, which began with the Palestinian militant group’s October 7, 2023 attack and has drawn in Tehran-aligned groups in the region.

Since Islamist-led rebels toppled Assad on December 8, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syrian military facilities in what it says is a bid to prevent them from falling into hostile hands.

In a move widely condemned internationally, Israel also sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights and beyond, describing it as a defensive and temporary measure.

On Thursday, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar visited the buffer zone and met UN peacekeepers there, a statement by his office said.

“Israel is closely monitoring the situation in Syria, and will not jeopardise its own security. We will not allow another October 7 on any front,” Mr Saar said.