Israel reveals how it daringly destroyed Iranian missile centre in Syria

Israel has revealed details and footage from one of its most daring and complex operations in which 120 commandos raided and destroyed an underground Iranian missile-making plant deep in Syria in September.

The September 8 raid -- dubbed ‘Operation Many Ways’ -- was aimed at destroying the facility used by Iranian forces to manufacture precision missiles for the Hezbollah in Lebanon and for the now toppled Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, the Times of Israel reported.

The entire operation, in which no Israeli soldier was injured, was completed in less than three hours.

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The Iranian facility

Assad was in power in Syria then and Israel had not yet launched its devastating campaign that paralysed the Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Iranian-built facility was dug into a mountain at the Scientific Studies and Research Center in the Masyaf area of Syria. It was located more than 200 km north of the Israeli border.

The military said the raid was carried out successfully by the Israeli Air Force’s elite Shaldag unit along with the search and rescue Unit 669. No Israeli soldier was injured during the operation, the Times said.

Moving missile plant underground

Iran began planning the underground facility after an Israeli airstrike took out a rocket engine manufacturing site stationed above ground, Israeli military officials were quoted as saying.

The site that Iran constructed was 230-430 feet underground and thus virtually impossible to destroy from the air.

By 2021, Iran had completed the digging and construction work and began bringing in equipment for mass-producing missiles.

How the facility looked

Over the following years, equipment continued to be delivered, and tests were carried out on the production line.

The facility was built in the shape of a horseshoe, with one entrance on the side of the mountain for raw materials and an exit nearby for the completed missiles.

A third entrance adjacent to those two was used for logistics and to reach offices inside the facility, the Times said. The office section also connected to the manufacturing section inside.

Israeli assessment of centre

Along the horseshoe were at least 16 rooms housing the production line for the missiles, from planetary mixers for the rocket fuel to missile body construction and paint rooms.

The facility was not yet completely active when Israel launched its operation. But it was at the final stages of being declared operational by Iran, the newspaper said.

At least two missiles had been successfully manufactured as part of testing, and rocket engines were already being mass produced.

The lethal facility

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) estimated the facility's annual output could have ranged between 100 and 300 missiles, capable of reaching targets up to 300 kilometres away.

The Israeli decision to raid the facility came after years of monitoring and intelligence gathering.

While initial plans were formulated years prior, the operation gained urgency amid the multifront war that began in October 2023 involving the Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and other Iran-backed militias.

Israel’s attacking machine

Escorted by AH-64 attack helicopters, 21 fighter jets, five drones and 14 reconnaissance planes, the Israeli convoy flew over the Mediterranean to avoid Syrian radar detection.

To mask the commandos' approach, IAF aircraft launched diversionary strikes on other Syrian targets, drawing attention away from the region.

A surveillance drone launched by the commandos monitored the area.

Israeli commandos destroy

Commandos secured the perimeter and breached the facility's heavily fortified entrances using equipment on-site, including forklifts.

Inside, the team planted approximately 660 pounds of explosives along the production line, targeting critical machinery such as planetary mixers.

After ensuring all charges were in place, the team exited the facility and detonated the explosives remotely.

The final destruction

The resulting blast, equivalent to one ton of explosives, caused a "mini earthquake" with soldiers reportedly saying that the "ground trembled".

The commandos completed their mission in under three hours, departing aboard the same helicopters that had delivered them.

The IDF reported killing some 30 Syrian guards and soldiers during the operation.