Israeli Raid in Syria’s Masyaf Targeted Iranian Missile Manufacturing Facility

Israeli raid on Masyaf
Israeli raid on Masyaf
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Israeli Raid in Syria’s Masyaf Targeted Iranian Missile Manufacturing Facility

Israeli raid on Masyaf
Israeli raid on Masyaf

The Iranian embassy in Damascus on Friday denied that its advisors stationed in Syria were targeted during Israel's September 9 raid in the city of Masyaf in Syria's central province of Hama, saying the Israeli allegations were lies.

“After 11 months of failing to achieve its goals in the Gaza war, the Zionist regime has reached a level of disappointment that it sees no way to save itself, but to kill the children and spread lies,” the embassy said.

The mission’s statement came days after Israel raided the Scientific Research Center and several military sites in Masyaf. Syria’s official news agency, SANA, said 18 people were killed in the operation and 37 others were wounded, including six people in critical condition.

But media reports said the Israeli raids destroyed a secret Hezbollah missile production facility near the Lebanese border.

Israel Briefed US

The Axios website quoted on Friday two sources as saying Israel briefed the Biden administration in advance of the sensitive operation and the US didn't oppose it. The White House didn't respond to a request for comment.

Also, two sources with direct knowledge told Axios the Iranians began building the underground facility in coordination with Hezbollah and Syria in 2018 because it would be impenetrable to Israeli air strikes.

Local residents said a state of tension prevails in the region where people feel they are “victims of battles they have nothing to do with.”

The residents recorded the sound of helicopters flying over Masyaf that night for more than an hour, without being intercepted by the forces deployed in the area.

Local media outlets on Friday broadcasted images of young volunteers from the area who said they were removing rubble from sites hit by the Israeli attack, one of the most lethal in Syria in recent months.

SOHR Version

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted on Friday seven reliable sources, including civilians and combatants who confronted the Israeli raid, as saying that the accurate and compound operation in Masyaf targeted the “Heer Abbas” site which houses a factory for manufacturing and developing medium-range missiles.

The factory had been constructed and supervised by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, it said.

Before commandoes descended, Israeli forces carried out a series of intensive airstrikes, targeting vital sites in the region.

“Nearly five helicopters participated in the airdrop, where they flew at low altitude. A helicopter heading the squadron was equipped with a strong projector,” the Observatory said.

Several drones and fighter jets participated in the operation, according to SOHR. It said regime air-defenses managed to shoot down a drone in Banyas on the Syrian coastline.

Shortly before the airdrop, the Observatory said Israeli forces launched intensive airstrikes against vital sites in the region. The forces used electronic warfare jamming systems which facilitated the airdrop of around 100 Israeli special forces.

Later, the Israeli soldiers who participated in the airdrop clashed for over three hours with local forces and civilians. Residents in surrounding areas clearly heard the gunfire.

SOHR said the Israeli soldiers managed to destroy the factory. The sources could not verify if the Israeli forces took important and secret documents from the “Heer Abbas” site. However, the sources confirmed that no Iranian-backed militias were captured during the Israeli operation.

27 People Killed

According to SOHR sources, the Israeli raid left 27 people dead and at least 32 others injured. Some of the bodies were dismembered, while others were charred, it said.



5 Paramedics Killed In Israeli Airstrike On a Civil Defense Center in Southern Lebanon

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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5 Paramedics Killed In Israeli Airstrike On a Civil Defense Center in Southern Lebanon

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

An Israeli airstrike hit a Lebanese Civil Defense center Wednesday in the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, killing five members who were stationed there, civil defense spokesperson Elie Khairallah told The Associated Press.
The Lebanese Health Ministry also confirmed the news in a statement, saying Israel has “renewed its targeting of rescue and ambulance crews tonight, disregarding international laws, norms and humanitarian conventions.”
There was no immediate statement from the Israeli military.
Among the victims was Abdullah Al-Moussawi, head of the Tyre Regional Center in the Lebanese Civil Defense, Khairallah said.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said teams continued to search for survivors in the rubble.
Israel's defense minister warned on Wednesday that his country's retaliation for a recent Iranian missile attack will be “lethal” and “surprising,” while the Israeli military pushed ahead with a large-scale operation in northern Gaza and a ground offensive in Lebanon against Hezbollah militants.
On the diplomatic front, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden held their first call in seven weeks, with a White House press secretary saying the call included discussions on Israel's deliberations over how it will respond to Iran's attack.
“It was direct, it was productive,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of the 30-minute call.
The Israeli operation in northern Gaza left dozens of people dead and threatened to shut down three hospitals over a year into the war with Hamas, Palestinian officials and residents said.
The continuing cycle of destruction and death in Gaza, unleashed by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, comes as Israel expands a weeklong ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon and considers a major retaliatory strike on Iran following Iran’s Oct. 1 missile barrage.
“Our strike will be lethal, precise and above all, surprising. They won’t understand what happened and how. They will see the results,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said during a speech to troops. “Whoever strikes us will be harmed and pay a price.”
Iran fired dozens of missiles at Israel on Oct. 1 which the United States helped fend off. Biden has said he would not support a retaliatory strike on sites related to Tehran’s nuclear program.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah claimed a rocket attack that killed two people in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona. The town’s acting mayor, Ofir Yehezkeli, said the two killed were a couple walking their dogs.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu said Lebanon would meet the same fate as Gaza if its people did not rise up against Hezbollah.
Video verified by The Associated Press shows what appears to be a group of Israeli soldiers raising an Israeli flag in a village in southern Lebanon.
In the video, which appears to have been filmed in Maroun A-Ras, three soldiers are seen hoisting up a flag atop a pile of debris. A soldier off camera speaks in Hebrew and refers to the nearby Israeli village of Avivim. The date it was filmed wasn't immediately known.
The video follows other similar acts that took place throughout Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
An Israeli strike killed four people and wounded another 10 at a hotel sheltering displaced people in the southern Lebanese town of Wardaniyeh on Wednesday, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.
An Associated Press reporter in a nearby town heard two sonic booms from Israeli jets before the strike. Plumes of smoke rose from the building after the explosion.
In recent weeks Israel has waged a heavy air campaign across large parts of Lebanon, targeting what it says are Hezbollah rocket launchers and other militant sites. A series of strikes had killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders.
The Israeli military said Wednesday that Hezbollah has fired more than 12,000 rockets, missiles and drones at Israel in the past year.