Israel Confirms Attack on Iran-Linked Facility in Syria Months Ago

The Israeli army confirmed that its commandos attacked an underground facility in Syria in September 2024, which was financed by Iran for the production of precision missiles for Hezbollah's use against Israel. Hours later, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the army's 'heroic' operation and described it as a 'preventive operation... against the Iran axis.' The news of the operation on September 8, 2023, had previously been reported by some media, but the international spokesperson for the Israeli army officially confirmed it on Thursday evening, January 13. Nadav Shoshani stated in a press conference that the facility targeted was the 'crown jewel of Iran's production efforts in the region' and was established to 'produce hundreds of strategic missiles annually' for Hezbollah. According to him, the construction of this center began in 2017 deep in the mountains near Masyaf in Hama province, Syria, and Israel had been monitoring it from the outset. The Israeli army spokesperson noted that precision-guided missile production with a range of up to 300 kilometers was underway at this underground facility, which posed an 'immediate threat.' The Israeli Prime Minister described this operation on social media as 'one of the most significant preventive operations' Israel has executed against the Iran axis. The Israeli army also released photos and videos of the operation that took place on the evening of September 8 and the early morning of September 9. At that time, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes in the west of the country resulted in at least 16 deaths; the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 27 casualties from the attack on the military facility in Masyaf. Two days after the operation, the Iranian embassy in Damascus condemned the 'criminal attack' by Israel, stating that 'none of the Iranian advisors were harmed' in the attack on Masyaf. Israel generally does not comment on attacks attributed to it in Syria, and the confirmation of the commando operation in Masyaf is considered rare. In recent years, Israel has consistently emphasized that it will not allow the transfer of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah via Syria; recently, Naeem Qassem, the new leader of Hezbollah, confirmed that with the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government, the route for supplying weapons to this group through Syria was lost. According to new details released by the Israeli army, 120 military personnel participated in the September operation; one hundred commandos from the unit known as Shaldag and 20 members of the Israeli Air Force's Unit 669. The report indicated that extensive time was spent training for this operation, and finally, on the evening of September 8, Israeli commandos were transported to Syria aboard four helicopters. Two other attack helicopters, 21 fighter jets, five drones, and 14 reconnaissance aircraft supported this operation. According to newly released details, the helicopter flight to the target took 18 minutes, and simultaneously, Israel launched a large wave of airstrikes against positions in Masyaf and other areas of Syria. Reports indicate that the total operation at the Masyaf center lasted about two and a half hours, during which a group of Israeli forces monitored the area while other commandos passed through the heavy entrance doors of the underground site. According to newly released information, Israeli forces installed over 300 kilograms of explosives on all equipment in the facility before exiting and detonated it while boarding the helicopters. The Israeli army stated that this underground site is currently unused; Iranian forces have also exited Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government.