by Jerusalem Post Staff
Lt.-Col. (res.) Y, commander of the IDF's 7012th Battalion, led troops 10 kilometers into Syrian territory in covert June mission which was carried out without a shot being fired.
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A Lt.-Col. in the IDF reserves expanded on how his battalion maneuvered approximately 10 kilometers into Syria as part of a covert mission to arrest operatives from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF) in June, a Ynet interview revealed on Friday.
The incident was reported by The Jerusalem Post on Monday, with the interview expanding upon the details of how the operation was conducted.
Intelligence indicated that the cell was planning an imminent attack on IDF forces stationed in the buffer zone, Ynet reported.
Lt.-Col. (res.) Y, is commander of the IDF's 7012th Battalion, part of the Alexandroni Reserve Brigade, and led the mission.
The 7012th Battalion's objective was to complete the mission undetected, and return safely to Israeli territory. This is usually the domain of special forces, and other elite IDF units, but is increasingly being carried out by reservists, Ynet noted.
"We are proud of the outcome," Lt.-Col. Y said, giving credit to months of intelligence work and detailed planning aimed at dismantling a component of Iran's strategy to destabilize Israel's northern border.
Iran's strategy failed during the Israel-Iran war in June, during which the IDF expanded deployment in Syrian territory, playing a central role in blocking Tehran's objectives, Lt.-Col. Y told Ynet.
Intelligence and planning
"We had been monitoring the cell for a long time," Lt.-Col. Y said. "Iran has been building terror infrastructure across Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. There are still Iranian elements operating in the region, and it's our responsibility to stop them," he added.The operation near Tel Kudne followed extensive intelligence work by the IDF Intelligence Directorate's Unit 8200, and others.
The IRGC-QF cell seems to be part of a larger network of trained operatives spread across Syrian villages, awaiting orders from Tehran, Ynet reported.
“This wasn’t a single-target mission,” Lt-Col Y. told Ynet. “It was a precise operation — to enter, arrest, interrogate, and return with the detainees to Israel. But since they were spread across different structures and terrain, we needed perfect timing and total secrecy.”
In order to carry out the operation, several specialized units combined, including the 7012th Battalion's reconnaissance company, specialists from the IDF's Unit 504 human intelligence unit, the "Oketz" canine unit, elite search and rescue soldiers from Unit 669, and others, the Ynet report noted.
Lt.-Col. Y told Ynet how the soldiers prepared for the operation. "We built a full-scale model of the mission area in the dark," with soldiers having trained under simulated condition, with full gear, rehearsing infiltration, coordination, and breaching in a stealthy manner.
"We walked for kilometers into Syria, silently," Lt.-Col. Y told Ynet. "Everything was timed to the minute and synchronized across our companies."
“Our feet got wet, it was difficult, but everyone smiled from the satisfaction,” one the soldiers added, describing the experience of crossing the Ruqqad river.
"Even the local dogs barely barked," another remarked, explaining how silent the ambient noise was during the operation.
"Everything was quiet until we heard 'Go!' and then the operation began," a soldier told Ynet. Breach teams acted first while support units surrounded the compound. After Unit 504 had confirmed the presence of the IRGC-QF cell members, arrests began.
The detainees were quickly interrogated, with troops searching for weapons and intelligence materials, and then withdrawing before civilians in the village could respond, the report notes, adding that the suspects were taken completely by surprise, without a single shot fired.
“Even after we reached Israel, they couldn’t believe it,” a soldier said. “They were pulled from bed, blindfolded, and suddenly found themselves in Israeli custody.”
An officer conducting the interrogations of the detainees confirmed that they are undergoing questioning in Israel, in a process described as a "psychological chess match," in order to gather intelligence on further threats posed by IRGC-QF.
Jerusalem Post Staff
Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-860791
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