Israel Inserted Elite Commandos Into Syria, Blew Up Secret Missile Base, Reports Say

The Sunday night major Israeli airstrikes in the central Syrian town of Masyaf which we reported on earlier in the week might have involved much more than what was initially known.

There was an unusually high death toll for such an attack, which targeted a highly secretive Syrian government facility known as the Syrian Military Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC). It left at least 16 people killed and another 40 injured.

But now both Axios and Israeli media are reporting it involved a ground component. “During major attack by jets earlier this week, IDF commandos said to have rappelled from helicopters to capture Iranians and remove materials before destroying site,” Times of Israel writes. However, other reports make no mention of captured Iranians.

The Thursday Axios report says the Sunday night Israeli operation in central Syria really involved the following: “An elite Israel Defense Forces unit conducted a highly unusual raid in Syria earlier this week and destroyed an underground precision missile factory that Israel and the U.S. claim was built by Iran, according to three sources briefed on the operation.” It was reported at the time that significant portions of the surrounding countryside caught on fire.

Axios further cites the following while reporting that the White House was briefed ahead of time and did not oppose the daring raid which apparently involved boots on the ground:

On Wednesday, a Syrian opposition television channel and Greek Middle East expert Eva J. Koulouriotis both reported the airstrikes were a cover for an Israeli ground operation in Masyaf.
Three sources with knowledge of the operation confirmed to Axios that the Israeli Air Force elite unit Shaldag conducted a raid and destroyed the facility.

The report further claims that the elite IDF commando team engaged in a firefight on the ground outside the facility during the operation, killing several Syrian guards.

Local images of the fires that erupted in central Syria following the Israeli raid, via JPost

The special forces team additionally rigged the underground missile facility with explosives and blew it up, according to the claims. Israeli airstrikes were unleashed on the area as a diversion, but also to prevent Syrian Army reinforcements to the area.

Times of Israel said that the Israeli team was able to recover sensitive documents as well before destroying the facility. The publication further noted that “the fresh reports were the first to claim that Israeli troops operated on the ground during the action at Masyaf, which lies about 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of Israel, though only about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Syria’s western coastline.”

One question that remains is how a slow-moving helicopter (as in much slower moving than Israeli jets) was able to breach Syrian airspace for so long – and was able to insert ground forces – without triggering Syria’s Russian-made anti-air defenses. It could be that following so many Israeli Air Force attacks of late, Syria’s air defense are seriously degraded – or else regional batteries were successfully distracted, or there’s the possibility Israel used stealth technology and low altitudes. 

Α security source confirmed to me that last Thursday evening, special forces from the |#IDF carried out a special operation against a military facility belonging to the #IRGC, six kilometers southwest of the Syrian city of Masyaf.
2/ pic.twitter.com/zrdbexcZnL

— Eva J. Koulouriotis | إيفا كولوريوتي (@evacool_) September 11, 2024

Israel has kept quiet about any details of a ground insertion, and Damascus is unlikely to confirm, given if Israel successfully pulled off something like that it would be a humiliation.