'The terrorists were shocked' - How the IDF arrested Iranian IRGC operatives in Syria

The IDF has allowed the release of new information regarding the special operation conducted by reserve soldiers within Syrian territory to arrest members of a terror cell belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) Quds Force. 

The operation, conducted at the end of June, was a surprise raid based on intelligence obtained from interrogations of suspects previously arrested in southern Syria near the Golan Heights, according to Ynet News.

That particular mission was conducted after intelligence indicated that the Quds Force terror cell was preparing an imminent attack on Israeli forces in the buffer zone. 

The arrest operations were carried out by the 7012th Battalion, part of the Alexandroni Reserve Brigade, n cooperation with members of the IDF's Unit 504 human intelligence unit, the “Oketz” canine unit, search and rescue operatives from Unit 669, along with other special ops troops. 

While such operations have traditionally been performed exclusively by elite active duty special operations units in the past, the extended deployment of the reserve soldiers of the 7012th Battalion has provided them with the training and tactical familiarity with the area needed to successfully complete the mission. 

Lt.-Col. (res.) Y. (39) from Tel Aviv, who only recently became the commander of Battalion 7012, spoke to Ynet about the arrest operations and his unit’s experiences working in the buffer zone after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. 

Lt.-Col. Y. said the arrest operation was preceded by an extended period of intelligence gathering and preparations to counter Iranian attempts to sow chaos along Israel’s northern border. 

This was the second arrest operation to capture Iranian operatives in Syria.

“We had heard about this cell for a very long time,” Y. stated. “Iran has been trying for years to establish numerous terror infrastructures here, essentially creating this ‘ring of strangulation’ around Israel – from Lebanon, Syrian territory, and Jordan. There are still Iranian remnants in the area, and our role is to thwart any such threat.” 

He said that “a tremendous amount of intelligence” had been gathered by IDF intelligence units, including Unit 8200 and Unit 504, indicating the cell was planning to target IDF forces in the buffer zone.

According to Y., the mission involved a high level of operational complexity due to the need to arrest multiple cell members simultaneously at different locations.

“It was indeed a surgical operation to come, capture, conduct an initial field interrogation, and return with the target to the assembly areas and Israel’s border – but the cell members were spread across multiple buildings in different terrains. Thus, the challenge was twofold – the required secrecy and the simultaneous timing, due to the connection between the cell members,” he explained. 

Along with the different units operating on the ground to carry out the mission, the Israel Air Force maintained a watchful eye above the troops. 

The units practiced the mission several times in the nearby Golan territory before the order to enter Syrian territory was given. 

Lt.-Col. Y. described the quiet march to the territory. “Each battalion infiltrated the area in its own way,” he noted. “We walked several kilometers on foot inside Syrian territory in secrecy, and the entire operation was timed ‘to the minute,’ in synchronization with all the forces and companies of the brigade that participated, both from 7012 and the reconnaissance unit.” 

One of the soldiers told Ynet, “The march was an impressive thing. Hundreds of fighters walked with silent and concealed movement so that even the dogs barely barked.” 

Another soldier said, “Everything was quiet until the moment of the ‘Execute’ command – and then, in one blow, the cell members encountered the might of the IDF.” 

At the same moment, in different houses, in different villages, the soldiers breached each residence, at which point the Unit 504 human intelligence operatives confirmed the identity of each target, conducting a brief field interrogation, while the forces of the 7012 Battalion and the other units searched for weapons and gathered intelligence. 

The troops conducted the mission in such a way that they were able to apprehend each target and leave the village before residents became aware or could organize a response.

“We managed to keep the non-targeted household members calm, without any force or ability to resist,” one of the reserve Alexandroni soldiers related. 

The operation was conducted so quickly that one of the fighters told Ynet that the Quds Force terrorists were shocked. 

“Even when they were in Israel, they struggled to believe that the Israeli army had come to pull them out of bed, blindfolded them – and poof, they were in Israel,” he stated. 

Lt. Col. Y. said the mission reinforced the importance of the IDF’s work in Syria to defend the Israeli settlements of the Golan Heights. 

“When you enter the Syrian territory in the dead of night, you both see with your eyes and feel with your feet the defense of the Golan settlements,” he shared.

“It’s truly something that was felt by all the fighters.”