Israeli Commandos Carried Out Raid on Secret Weapons Site in Syria

Israel carried out a commando raid in Syria on Sunday that obliterated a Hezbollah missile production facility near the Lebanese border, killing a number of people at the site, according to American and other Western officials.

The operation included a daring raid by Israeli special forces, who rappelled down from helicopters and apparently seized materials from the missile facility, the officials said. Ground forces were used in the attack because of its complexity and to recover information from the secret weapons site, the officials said, adding that there were no Israeli casualties.

The officials said the raid included airstrikes on the sprawling site, the Scientific Studies and Research Center, which is near Masyaf, in the country’s northwest.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported on Monday that 18 people were killed and dozens more injured. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group based in Britain that tracks the conflict in Syria, said the strikes hit an area containing a scientific research institute where work on developing short- and medium-range precision missiles is conducted.

Israel has declined to comment on the raid.

Israel notified senior American officials before conducting the strikes. On Sunday, the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, visited the underground war room of the Israel Defense Forces’ Northern Command, where he was presented with the military’s operational plans for Lebanon, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Independent experts, Israeli officials and the U.S. government have described the institute in Syria as a center of weapons research and development, aided by the country’s ally Iran. Chemical, biological and potentially nuclear weapons are developed