Israel conducted a commando raid on an underground Iranian missile production facility near the city of Maysaf in Syria in early September, the Jerusalem Post learned in later September, but was only allowed to confirm now after KAN News was permitted to publicize the IDF officially taking credit late Sunday.
That a raid took place, but without Israeli confirmation, was first reported by Axios on September 12, with the Post receiving secret confirmation shortly after, but not permission to publicize the information.
It appears that Israeli censor and secrecy rules regarding operations in Syria have become more flexible given the huge increase in IDF operations in Syria since the fall of the Assad regime.
With the fall of the regime, information security officials likely view any threat of retaliation from Syria as being at a much lower risk level.
The raid targeted two significant sites, which were the Syrian defense industry's Scientific Studies and Research Center and the underground missile production facility run by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Israel, which had followed the facility for years, had informed the United States about the operation in advance.
The IDF prepared its operational plans after it detected that Iran had transferred components for a precision missile project into the facility. Israel then decided to address the "growing threat."
Concerns about Iranian missiles
The decision to carry out the strike was believed to be influenced by concerns over the ongoing war, along with the potential risk that the Iranian missile factory would begin mass-producing missiles.
The aforementioned weapons were reportedly intended to be used as a supply for Hezbollah.
The operation occurred approximately 200 kilometers from Israeli territory and was deemed urgent to prevent the facility from reaching full production capacity.