Months before the ouster of Bashar-al Assad, Israel conducted a raid to bust an Iran missile factory in Syria.
The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday for the first time released footage of the commando raid destroying the underground site in September.
“The site was a flagship project of Iran in an effort to arm its proxies on the northern border of the State of Israel. The complex included advanced production lines designed to produce precision missiles and long-range rockets, thereby significantly increasing the scope of missile supplies to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation and other Iranian proxies in the region,” the IDF said.
The raid came when Assad was in power and months before rebels led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham began their lightning offensive.
But what do we know about the mission?
Let’s take a closer look:
What do we know about the facility?
As per The Times of Israel, the IDF nicknamed the facility “Deep Layer.”
The plant was carved into a mountain at the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) in
Syria’s Masyaf.
The facility was built to provide weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as the Assad government.
This location, west of Hama, was over 200 kilometers north of the Israeli border and around 45 kilometers from Syria’s western coast.
Iran began conceptualising “Deep Layer” in 2017.
This came after an Israeli airstrike on SSRC took out an aboveground rocket engine manufacturing facility.
“Deep Layer,” on which digging and construction was completed by 2021, was 230 to 430 feet underground.
It was considered virtually indestructible from airstrikes.
As per The War Zone, the IDF said “Deep Layer” was a horseshoe-shaped facility with a side entrance to bring in materials and an exit nearby from which completed missiles were removed.
A third entrance was also available for logistics and to get to offices inside the facility.
Iran began conceptualising ‘Deep Layer’ in 2017 after an Israeli airstrike took out an aboveground rocket engine manufacturing facility. Image courtesy: @IDF/X
It had at least 16 rooms where missile and rocket motors were assembled.
The IDF called the location Iran’s “flagship project” in its endeavour to arm Hezbollah.
While the facility was not fully operational, it was in the final stages of being declared as such.
The IDF said at least two missiles had been successfully produced and rocket engines were already being manufactured en masse.
The defence forces said that the facility would likely produce between 100 and 300 missiles of various kinds annually.
What about the mission?
As per Times of Israel, the idea for the raid was being kicked about for years.
However, it gained new urgency after Israel was attacked by Hamas on October 8, 2023, and after it became involved with conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon and other Iranian-backed actors.
The mission saw 120 special forces members venture deep into Syria on September 8.
The team comprise members of the Israeli Air Force’s elite Shaldag unit as well as the search and rescue Unit 669.
According to The War Zone, Shaldag is a covert unit that which carries out long-range penetration operations including commando-style raids.
Unit 669, on the other hand, does combat search and rescue (CSAR) – which is essential in missions which occur in or near enemy territory.
According to NDTV, both units were given two months of intensive training including simulations and backup scenarios.
The raid was internally known as “Operation Many Ways.”
According to The War Zone, the IDF conducted “extensive intelligence gathering and monitoring” prior the operation.
September 8 was chosen as the date due to the fair weather, as per NDTV.
The 100 members of Shaldag and the rest of the team from Unit 669, were transported into and out of Syria on four CH-53D helicopters.
They were accompanied by military working dogs.
Reconnaissance and fire support was provided by Israeli fighter jets and the Israeli Navy.
“The six helicopters flew over the Mediterranean Sea far off the coast of Lebanon, before crossing into Syria above its own coastline,” The Times of Israel reported. “The choppers flew unusually low in order to evade Syrian radars and air defense systems.”
As per NDTV, the convoy flew over the Mediterranean to avoid being spotted by radar.
Once the convoy crossed into Syria, the helicopters flew close to the ground to avoid air defences.
Meanwhile, the IAF aircraft launched strikes on other targets to divert the defenders’ attention.
The choppers landed near the entrances of “Deep Layer.”
The troops deployed while keeping a defensive perimeter.
The defence forces said that the facility would likely produce between 100 and 300 missiles of various kinds annually. Image courtesy: @IDF/X
Personnel of Unit 669 were on standby on the aircraft, while a surveillance drone kept an eye on the area.
Commandos then penetrated the heavily reinforced entrances using equipment that was around including forklifts.
Some soldiers had specifically been given forklift training.
The commandos then placed nearly 300 kilos of explosives particularly on critical machinery like planetary mixers.
The team then left the facility and detonated the explosives
Soldiers said the result was a “mini earthquake” and that the “ground trembled”.
Soldiers then departed on the helicopters. The entire mission had taken less than three hours.
The IDF said it killed around 30 Syrian guards and soldiers, while
Syrian media claimed 14 were dead and 43 injured
No Israeli soldiers were injured during the mission, as per Times of Israel.
The Week quoted reports in
Israeli media as saying that the US was aware of the operation.
The US earlier claimed the facility developed sarin gas for use in chemical attacks.
The Iran-backed government of Bashar Assad was overthrown in December.
The fall of Damascus prompted waves of Israeli airstrikes on Syrian and Iranian military assets to prevent them from falling into the hands of Islamist
rebels.
Within hours, Israeli tanks rolled past a razor wire-reinforced fence into the Golan’s demilitarised buffer zone in Syria, created as part of a 1974 ceasefire between the countries.
Israel said it was a temporary move to secure its border.
Days later, the Israeli government approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s $11 million plan of financial incentives to double the population of Israeli settlers in the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from
Syria in the 1967 Mideast war.
Israel will “continue to hold onto it, make it flourish and settle it,” Netanyahu said.
The international community, with one exception, considers the Golan to be occupied Syrian territory, while the United Nations lists Israeli settlements there as illegal.
In 2019, the United States became the only country to recognise Israel’s 1981 annexation.
With inputs from agencies