Inside the audacious Israeli strike that destroyed an Iranian-funded underground missile factory in Syria
JERUSALEM – Elite Israeli forces carried out a dramatic raid in Syria, destroying a secret underground long-range missile factory that also contained information about Syria’s chemical weapons program in September, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The IDF first disclosed the mission on Thursday in a press conference.
“This is one of our most significant and complex special operations in recent years, even in these complex year and a half,” IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani said.
The IDF provided spectacular footage of Israeli commandos during the daring mission, as well as a massive explosion of the underground compound after the soldiers cleared it.
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IDF special forces inside a Syrian missile complex in September 2024. (IDF Spokesperson Unit)
“A factory or facility for precision-guided missiles is buried in the underground side of the mountain,” an IDF spokesman said.
During the mission, information was revealed about Syria’s chemical weapons program.
“I’ve seen some of them — notebooks and documents — and a lot of them contain very specific chemicals,” Shoshani said. “One of them I saw was a chemical manual describing how to produce a missile at the end of the attack. The soldiers dismantled the facility, including machinery and production, to ensure Israel’s security.”
The Assad regime has repeatedly used chemical weapons against its own population during the nearly 14-year civil war that has devastated the country. The Hezbollah movement, designated a terrorist organization by the US, played a key role in aiding the Assad regime during the civil war.
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The plant is designed to produce between 150-350 missiles per year, inclusive precision guided missiles (PGM), according to the IDF. Commandos from the IDF’s elite Shaldag air unit participated in the mission. The IDF said 30 Syrian soldiers were killed during the operation.
An IDF spokesman told reporters that the operation “targeted an Iranian-funded precision-guided missile factory inside Syrian territory near the border with Lebanon. This facility is designed to produce hundreds of strategic missiles a year from start to finish for Hezbollah to use in their airstrikes against Israel and its Iranian axis in Syria.
“Due to the specifics of the terrain and the underground facility, we could not operate from the airspace. Also, on September 8 last year, 2024, special forces carried out a nighttime targeted attack on the facility. Over 100 soldiers participated in the attack. There were also dozens of aircraft, including helicopters and other types of aircraft.
The Israeli Air Force’s Shaldag special forces attacked a missile factory in Syria. (IDF Spokesperson Unit)
“I salute our heroic fighters for a daring and successful operation deep in Syria,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “This was one of the most important pre-emptive operations we have undertaken against the Iranian axis’ efforts to arm themselves to attack us; it confirms our boldness and determination to take action everywhere to defend ourselves.”
After the devastating October 7, 2023, Hamas invades Israelwhich resulted in the killing of more than 1,200 people, including 40 Americans, Israel faced multiple attacks by the Iranian regime — Hamas’ main sponsor, Hezbollah; Houthis; and brought down Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria.
Amit Segal, chief political analyst for Israel’s Channel 12, told Fox News Digital: “The Israeli perspective for years has been that Iran acts as an octopus in the Middle East, with Tehran’s nuclear program as its head and conventional terrorist organizations surrounding Israel as its weapon. Netanyahu’s view was that the weapons were to harass and occupy Israel as the head raced toward nuclear capabilities, and therefore it was desirable to contain them and focus on the main a threat.
IDF officers watch as the operation unfolds. (IDF Spokesperson Unit)
“This perception was shattered on October 7 when it became clear that guns are not just a nuisance, but an existential threat.”
A complex commando attack on an underground Syrian factory could also be a shot across the bow for the Islamic Republic Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities embedded in mountains.
“After a year and a quarter dedicated to cutting the octopus’ legs, in 2025 Israel is at a historic crossroads for the conflict that Netanyahu has long sought and will be judged by history: the removal of the nuclear threat once and for all,” Segal noted.
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Hezbollah terrorists form a human barrier during the funeral procession of slain Hezbollah supreme commander Fuad Shukra in the southern suburbs of Beirut on August 1, 2024. (Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images)
An IDF spokesman said the construction of the Syrian missile factory “began in late 2017 and ended in 2021 when production machinery was sent from Iran to the site. Most of the components in the factory originate from Iran.”
From October 2023 to November 2024, Hezbollah fired more than 17,000 missiles at Israel, killing dozens of Israelis, an IDF spokesman said.
