The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday shared footage for the first time from a September commando raid in Syria, where they destroyed an underground Iranian missile factory. This marked the first official confirmation of the raid, which had some details reported in Israeli media on Wednesday.

On September 8, approximately 200 kilometres north of Israel, commandos from the elite Shaldag unit invaded the Scientific Studies and Research Centre in the northwest Syrian city of Masyaf. Strategic weapons were produced at the facility, which was also referred to as CERS or SSRC. “The site was a flagship project of Iran in an effort to arm its proxies on the northern border of the State of Israel. The complex included advanced production lines designed to produce precision missiles and long-range rockets, thereby significantly increasing the scope of missile supplies to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation and other Iranian proxies in the region,” the IDF said.

The facility manufactured M600F missiles with a range of 250-300 km, precision-guided M302 missiles with a 130 km range, M220 missiles capable of reaching 70 km, and truck-launched M122 rockets with a 40-km range, according to the army. These missiles were meant for Hezbollah's use. CERS was also closely linked to the development of biological and chemical weapons technology. 

The commandos returned to Israel with various weapons, intelligence documents and a planetary mixer, which had been used to make solid rocket fuel, for further investigation. Later, in December, Bashar Assad's Iran-backed government was toppled. Israeli attacks on Syrian and Iranian military assets in an effort to keep them out of the hands of Islamist rebels were triggered by the loss of Damascus.