According to numerous and reliable reports, Israel’s elite units operated overnight deep inside Syria — only 8 kilometres from Damascus. The same reports say the commando forces were inserted by helicopters after combat aircraft struck targets on the ground and prevented reinforcements from arriving from the army of the new Syrian regime.
The operation was likely accompanied by numerous sorties and UAVs (drones), which “isolated” the battlefield and enabled the commando forces to carry out their mission.
What was the objective of the operation?
Foreign sources report that the operation took place in an area where “surveillance and eavesdropping devices” had been discovered in recent days, and that in the preceding days Syrian soldiers who attempted to dismantle or remove these devices had been eliminated.
It is therefore quite plausible, in my view, that the aim of the operation was to extract these devices and transfer them to Israel so they would not fall into enemy hands.
The operation itself was conducted in the al-Kiswah area. This area is well known to anyone who fought against the old Syrian army (the Assad regime). One of the elite divisions of the old Syrian regime — the 1st Division — was previously stationed there.
This division was one of the most important forces that fought the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in the Yom Kippur War. It broke through into the south of the Golan Heights, then continued moving and fighting towards the centre of the plateau — towards the IDF’s central headquarters in Nafah — and attempted to capture it. Its tanks stormed into the headquarters compound, where heavy fighting ensued. Subsequently, by the grace and miracles of the Lord, the division suffered heavy losses and retreated from Israeli territory.
In the First Lebanon War this division also operated against IDF forces. In the following years it was permanently stationed in the al-Kiswah area, poised to push into Israel in the event of a sudden Syrian attack.
By the grace and miracles of the Almighty, during the Syrian civil war it sustained heavy losses in battles against the rebels, and around two-thirds of its strength was destroyed. Over the years of the civil war, Iran and Hezbollah increasingly participated in joint activity with this division.
One may assume that with the final collapse of the Syrian army and Assad’s flight to Moscow — which in itself was a tremendous miracle for Israel — this division also disintegrated. However, it is reasonable to assess that part of its weaponry and the bases where it had operated remained intact, and Iranian or other hostile forces tried to make use of them; therefore Israel installed surveillance and eavesdropping systems there.
As mentioned, in recent days these special devices were exposed, and it is thus quite plausible to assume that commando forces were dispatched to bring them to Israel.