The IDF announced that on September 8th, 2024, during a special operation by the Israeli Air Force, troops from the Shaldag Unit raided and destroyed an underground compound for manufacturing precision missiles in the Masyaf area, deep in Syrian territory.For years, the Intelligence Directorate conducted extensive intelligence gathering and monitoring, confirming the value of the target. In the months leading up to the operation, a plan was launched for the Israeli Air Force to destroy it.The soldiers landed using helicopters, with fire and intelligence-gathering support from aircraft, fighter jets, and naval vessels of the Israeli Navy. The raid’s target was an underground compound deep in Syrian territory, funded and supported by Iran. The compound was a flagship project for Iran’s efforts to arm its terror proxies on Israel’s northern border. The compound included advanced assembly lines designed to manufacture precision-guided missiles and long-range rockets, significantly increasing the supply of missiles to Hezbollah and other Iranian terror proxies in the region.
During the operation, the forces reached critical machinery for manufacturing precision missiles, including a planetary mixer, numerous weapons, and intelligence documents.”The IDF will continue to act strategically and professionally with various methods and tactics to remove threats directed at the citizens of Israel,” the IDF stated.IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi commended the operation: “The Shaldag Unit’s operation deep inside Syrian territory joins a series of courageous missions the IDF has conducted over the past few months in Gaza, the Dahieh in Beirut, and Iran, with the goal of destroying the Iranian Axis’ missile manufacturing capabilities. 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.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the operation in Syria: “I salute our heroic fighters for the daring and successful operation deep in Syria. This was one of the most important preventive operations that we have taken against the efforts of the Iranian axis to arm itself in order to attack us; it attests to our boldness and determination to take action everywhere to defend ourselves.”