Middle East crisis: IDF releases video of its commandoes raiding missile plant in Syria in September

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a statement: "Tonight, we reveal to you a special operation that took place in the heart of Syria in early September, during which dozens of fighters raided an underground site for the production of Iranian precision missiles in Syria. Here you can see a 3D simulation of the site."

"This is a production infrastructure whose purpose was to continue to grow and be used by Hezbollah to create a wide variety of hundreds of rockets and missiles per year," he said.

He said the site was also planned to become a central infrastructure for the production of rocket engines in the northern arena.

"We prevented this," he said.

"This operation is in addition to a series of IDF strikes and operations over the past few months aimed at preventing Hezbollah from arming itself with strategic weapons," Daniel Hagari said.

The raid attack occurred at a time when the ousted former President of Syria  Bashar al-Assad was in power.

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He fled Syria and his government was toppled last month after opposition leaders took control over several cities including Damascus.

In its X post, IDF shared the video of the raid and wrote: " 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."

Meanwhile, more than 115,000 people have reportedly returned to Syria from countries such as Türkiye, Jordan and Lebanon since 8 December – the fall of the Assad regime - the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Thursday.

The information is based on public statements by host countries, contacts with immigration services from inside Syria, and border monitoring by the agency and partners.

UNHCR said the Turkish Minister of Interior reported that 35,113 Syrians have voluntarily returned home.

Displaced within Syria

Approximately 664,000 people remain newly displaced across Syria, mainly in Idlib and Aleppo governorates. The majority, 75 per cent, are women and children.

Moreover, nearly 486,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned to their areas of origin, mainly in Hama and Aleppo governorates.

“Prevailing insecurity – including armed clashes, increased criminal activity, and unexploded ordnance - continues to present challenges for civilians and will likely influence the potential decision to return home faced by Syrians living outside the country,” UNHCR said.