Declassified: Over 100 Shaldag Unit Soldiers Raided and Dismantled an Underground Compound for Manufacturing Precision Missiles During a Special IAF Operation Inside Syria.
DECLASSIFIED: In September 2024, before the fall of the Assad Regime, our soldiers conducted an undercover operation to dismantle an Iranian-funded underground precision missile production site in Syria.
Watch exclusive footage from this historic moment. pic.twitter.com/s0bTDNwx77
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) January 2, 2025
On the night between September 8-9 the IDF carried out an unusual wave of airstrike over several hours targeting a facility near Masyaf in Syria. Reports indicated a relatively high number of Syrian casualties, as well as a different operational approach, including the use of UAVs by the IDF to deter rescue forces from reaching the site. The IDF revealed that the operation involved deploying approximately 100 Sayeret Shaldag commandos on Syrian soil to booby-trap and destroy a missile production facility embedded in a mountainside, which made it difficult to destroy from the air.
IDF: 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.
⚠️DECLASSIFIED: Over 100 soldiers from the IDF’s elite Shaldag Unit covertly raided and dismantled an underground Iranian missile factory deep in Syria in September 2024.
The Iranian facility manufactured precision missiles for Hezbollah and Assad. pic.twitter.com/90vyROZ6Ep
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) January 2, 2025
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, which were transferred for investigation. The soldiers destroyed the compound and safely returned to Israeli territory.
The IDF will continue to act strategically and professionally with various methods and tactics to remove threats directed at the citizens of Israel.
Additional Details
Military correspondent Doron Kadosh reveals additional details about the Sayeret Shaldag operation in Masyaf, Syria:
About 70 aircraft participated in the operation: fighter jets, transport planes, helicopters, and UAVs.
The Sayeret Shaldag force that took part in the operation numbered around 100 fighters and formed the core of the mission. Along with them, about 20 members of Unit 669 also entered Syrian territory.
The 120 personnel arrived in four “Yas’ur” (CH-53) helicopters, which took off from Israel and flew for about an hour and a half to reach the target – this included aerial refueling en route.
Once inside Syrian territory, it took 18 more minutes of flying under heavy aerial threats to reach the landing zone. The area is densely guarded by dozens of surface-to-air missile batteries.
The first landing force consisted of about 50 fighters. Their job was to secure the perimeter and neutralize threats so the second force could land safely and carry out the main assault on the facility.
The second force – the assault team – landed at a different helipad and had to run roughly 700 meters from the landing zone to the doors of the underground site.
The assault team moved through the missile “production corridor,” going room by room, placing the correct explosive charges on each machine (in the correct size and quantity), and most importantly, locating the planetary mixers – the critical component for missile production. The three mixers were found in rooms B4, B5, and B6 in the heart of the compound.
After rigging the facility, the forces retreated to a safe distance. The unit’s sapper, identified as “S,” detonated nearly one ton of explosives while the fighters were still on the ground.
Finally, the soldiers ran back to the helicopters waiting for them on the ground and flew an hour and a half back to Israeli territory.
