2024 Masyaf raid

On 8 September 2024, in an operation called Operation Many Ways (Hebrew: מבצע רבות הדרכים), Israeli special forces raided an underground missile production facility at a branch of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) near Masyaf in the country's northwest. The raid was covered by airstrikes that killed at least eighteen people according to state media. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that 27 people were killed. The targeted facility was used by Iran to supply precision-guided missiles to its allies, including the Syrian government and Lebanese Hezbollah. The raid was carried out by commandos from the Israeli Air Force's (IAF) elite Shaldag Unit. In a nearly three-hour operation, the commandos landed at the site by helicopter, where they raided the facility and planted explosives inside. After they left, the explosives were detonated, destroying the facility. The operation is regarded as one of Israel's most complex in its history. The raid was initially reported by The New York Times and Axios in September 2024, citing Western officials. It was confirmed by Israel in January 2025. The SOHR and Western intelligence agencies had previously identified the SSRC as responsible for Syrian chemical weapons and missile development programs. The former also claimed that Iranian Revolutionary Guards officers had been stationed at the site for the last six years, which Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani refused to confirm or deny. The Israeli operation was reportedly planned as a ground raid after airstrikes over the preceding years had pushed Hezbollah and Iran—involved in a long-running conflict with Israel that has intenfisied amid the Gaza war—to move their operations underground.