Amidst a lot of rumors and publications in many, but not always reliable and responsible sources, confirmation came unexpectedly from US officials stating that Israel, indeed, conducted a bold sabotage operation in the heart of Syria.
In an attempt to get to the bottom of what really happened in Syria about a week ago, we have selected some of the published details that seem to be the most true and least exaggerated and present them below with our own brief comments.
1. The operation was part of a specifically large-scale attack in Syria carried out at the beginning of the week, which was widely reported and for which no state has claimed responsibility. In this operation, which was extraordinary in its duration and power, dozens of Syrian military and pro-Iranian militias were killed or wounded.
2. During that attack, several targets were destroyed, including a facility in the western Syrian city of Masyaf (Hama province). This is a highly classified facility known to have been used by Syria in the past for missile and chemical weapons development, i.e., it served to develop the most important, strategic weapons, for the Assad regime and Hizbullah.
3. According to credible sources, a sabotage operation was carried out simultaneously with the air raid by Israeli special forces. It is likely that Sayeret Matkal (a special unit of the General Staff Intelligence Directorate) participated in this operation, but it is also possible that additional units were involved. Support in gathering the necessary information, preparing the raid and ensuring its execution was most likely provided by Mossad officers.
4. The special forces operation was aimed directly at the strategic site and inflicted on it both the maximum possible damage (more than the air force could do from the air) and the collection of important information concerning the development of high-precision missiles for Hizbullah (possibly also UAVs) at the site.
Note: the threat of high-precision missiles is considered strategic in Israel. In the past, the Israeli government has already stated that the development of a large number of these missiles would certainly lead to an Israeli preemptive strike or even a declaration of war. In other words, we are talking about an issue that is extremely sensitive to Israel’s security. Apparently, this explains such a bold action, obviously involving considerable risk to the lives of our fighters.
5. The course of action: dozens of fighters were airborne from transport helicopters after the IAF struck the enemy’s anti-aircraft batteries and radar installations defending the site. The fighters took the facility by assault, suppressing the guard forces and Syrian soldiers who were there, collected the necessary information and blew up part of it (we are talking about a very large facility that was not completely destroyed and only partially blown up).
6. According to some reports, several Iranians were also captured. However, the Iranian authorities deny this (of course they would).
7. The main purpose of the operation, as already mentioned, was to inflict critical damage to a strategic facility designed to produce high-precision missiles in large quantities. The facility was underground, so it would have been difficult to destroy it from the air. It is also possible that the unwillingness to cause too much damage to the surrounding civilian population was taken into account, and therefore a decision was made to carry out a sabotage operation. As a result, the fighters blew up the missile factory, and also obtained valuable intelligence information that will help to understand how the missiles are made, what components they consist of, and thus also how to improve the capabilities of the defense system against them.
8. During the raid, Air Force aircraft, together with unmanned vehicles, provided air cover for the special forces, preventing enemy reinforcements from reaching the area of operation.
It is important to note: in such dangerous operations, deep in enemy territory, one is always prepared for a range of problematic scenarios requiring armed intervention and rescue with additional units.
Special elite units, attack helicopters and planes, transport helicopters for rescue and evacuation, and even significant ground forces (if the operation is close to the border) are kept on high alert at these times so that if an undesirable scenario occurs, the participants in the operation can be rescued — even at the cost of extensive battles and heavy fighting with large enemy forces flocking to the area.
Thank G-d, according to all sources, the bold raid was very successful — the objectives were achieved, the necessary intelligence information was obtained, and the facility itself was blown up, and according to American sources, not a single Israeli fighter was killed or wounded!
We, for our part, will emphasize that in our opinion this is a special help of G-d, for which we should be grateful to Him: „Give thanks to G-d, for He is good and His mercy is everlasting“!