On Sept. 8, 2024, months before the final collapse of the Assad regime, elite Israeli Air Force units assaulted an Iranian facility in Syrian territory, over 124 miles from Israel, destroyed the missile-making complex, and exfiltrated unscathed after 2.5 hours.
Israel has recently revealed footage and details of a daring and complex raid that was carried out in early September 2024. Codenamed Mivtza Ravot Hadrachim (Hebrew for “Operation Many Ways”), the raid involved over 120 special forces personnel, of which 100 from the Shaldag Special Forces unit of the Israeli Air Force and 20 from the Unit 669 combat search and rescue unit.
The raid was aimed at an underground precision-guided missile facility, codenamed “Deep Layer,” managed by Iran in Syrian territory. The facility was used for the production of weapons for the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, for the forces of dictator Bashar al-Assad in Syria and for other Iranian proxy militias.
The facility
Built within a mountain, 70 to 130 meters underground (from 230 to 430 ft) and almost impossible to destroy by aerial bombing, the facility was hidden beneath the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) in Masyaf and was over 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Israel. The location also had the second-highest concentration of air defense systems in Syria, behind only the capital Damascus.
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
The facility had been built from 2017, after Israel already destroyed an above-ground facility in the same location. Construction was completed by 2021, and the facility was now close to being declared operational after all equipment was delivered and the first missiles produced.
The goal was to considerably speed up the process of delivering modern missiles to Hezbollah which, until that point, had to await shipments to arrive from inside Iran. IDF estimates place the expected output of “Deep Layer” at between 100 and 300 missiles every year.
The raid
The raid was given the green light almost ten days before a devastating wave of pager and walkie-talkie explosions caused thousands of casualties among Hezbollah, and almost a month before the land-operation of the IDF in Lebanon against Hezbollah, in the context of the conflict between Israel and Hamas and many Iranian proxies, from Hezbollah in Lebanon to the Houthis of Yemen.
Hezbollah, who was to receive part of the output of the missile facility, had been launching rocket attacks on Israel since Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the terrorist attack of Hamas in southern Israel. The raid also happened over 3 months before the final collapse of the Assad regime in Syria.
On the evening of Sept. 8, the 100 commandos from Shaldag and the 20 from Unit 669 boarded four Sikorsky CH-53 Yas’ur (Hebrew for the Petrel seabird) heavy transport helicopters and departed for Syria along with two AH-64D Saraph (Hebrew for a venomous winged snake) attack helicopters, 21 fighter jets, 14 reconnaissance aircraft and five unmanned aerial vehicles. Additionally, 30 further aircraft remained on standby in Israel. The six helicopters flew very low over the Mediterranean Sea (to avoid radar detection and Syrian air defense systems) off Lebanon, before crossing into Syria.
The CH-53 helicopter, which had a central role in the operation, is an American heavy-lift helicopter (also known as Sikorsky S-65, or CH-53 Sea Stallion) derived from the Sikorsky S-61/CH-3 Sea King and able to carry up to 55 soldiers (but usually limited to 38, and the even more restrictive 33 in the Israeli Air Force).
In service with Israel since 1969, the old helicopters are slated to be replaced in the IAF by the upgraded version of the platform, the CH-53K King Stallion.
Before the arrival of the helicopters, and throughout the raid afterwards, Israeli assets (jets, drones and even missile boats of the Israeli Navy) hit the SSRC facility at Masyaf and other military locations over Syria. According to the report, 49 munitions were expended by the Israeli Air Force during the operation.
The four CH-53 then proceeded to land at the facility and drop off the 100 Shaldag commandos, while the operatives from Unit 669 remained on board. The Yas’ur then flew to another location while the operation was carried out, and rejoined the Shaldag personnel after 2.5 hours to exfiltrate them.
While half the commandos remained outside to provide security, the other half entered the facility and started planting explosives and collecting intelligence. About 300 kilograms (660 lb) of explosives were planted at Masyaf, with Israeli commandos helped in the task by a quad bike brought over from their homebase.
Particular attention was given to the three planetary mixer machines for the rocket fuel, indispensable for missile production. According to commandos, the explosion of the demolition charges and of the material inside the facility created “a mini earthquake.”
With the raid completed without losses, after over 2 hours on the ground, the Shaldag units finally evacuated the site, leaving the facility a ruin, and flew home first towards the Mediterranean, and then on to Israel. According to the IDF, 30 Syrian soldiers and guards have been killed in the operation, while the Assad regime acknowledged 14 dead and 43 injured personnel.
