The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed on Thursday that 120 Israeli special forces infiltrated Syria and destroyed an underground Iranian missile production facility during an operation in September 2024.
The raid, which took place about 124 miles from Israel’s northern border, involved special operations forces certified with forklifts to operate equipment inside the weapons facility, The Times of Israel reported. reported.
The Israel Defense Forces described the site as “Iran’s flagship project” to supply weapons to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, the paper said. The IDF released footage of the attack on social media.
Declassified: In September 2024, before the fall of the Assad regime, our soldiers conducted a covert operation to dismantle an Iranian-funded underground precision missile production facility in Syria.
Watch exclusive footage of this historic moment. pic.twitter.com/s0bTDNwx77
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 2, 2025
The video’s narrator said the facility was involved in the development of strategic and precision weapons, adding that special forces discovered additional weapons and information during the raid. (Related: Hostages sexually assaulted, branded and starved by brutal Hamas terrorists in new government report)
“Our soldiers operate wherever necessary to keep Israelis safe,” the narrator said.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) also released additional footage of the attack.
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— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) January 2, 2025
Military officials reported no casualties on the Israeli side during the operation. The Israel Defense Forces estimate that about 30 Syrian soldiers and security personnel were killed, the newspaper said. Soldiers said the destruction of the facility caused a “small earthquake.”
According to the IDF, Iran began planning the underground facility in 2017 after Israeli airstrikes destroyed its above-ground rocket manufacturing plant. Construction was reportedly completed in 2021, but the factory only produced a rocket engine and two missiles before being destroyed.
The underground facility had begun installing equipment for missile production and testing, but was not yet fully operational at the time of the destruction, the media reported.
