It’s one more deed of derring-do by the IDF, of which there have been so many. In this case, a battalion of Israeli reservists simply walked for ten kilometers inside Syria, in the middle of the night, and silently surrounded a series of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) compounds where its troops were sleeping. Without a shot being fired, they seized and brought back to Israel members of an IRGC cell that was planning to launch an imminent attack on the IDF’s buffer zone. More on this latest feat can be found here: “Inside the IDF’s covert 10 km. mission to capture Iran’s Quds Force in Syria – report,” Jerusalem Post, July 13, 2025:
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.
The operation was conducted at approximately 2:50 a.m. on a Monday morning. Hundreds of soldiers operated across multiple compounds where the IRGC-QF cell members were reportedly asleep.
“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.”
It was important not to let the IRGC soldiers in one compound under IDF attack to warn IRGC soldiers in other compounds. The IDF soldiers had to time things exactly so that they could hit all of the targeted compounds at the exact same time, a remarkable feat of synchronization. And everything was done in total darkness, and total silence. It had all been rehearsed before, with the IDF even building a full-sale model of the mission area for the soldiers to train on.
Think of the immense preparation required to make sure the operation went smoothly. First, there was the building of the full-scale mode of the mission’s area, on which IDF soldiers trained. The middle-of-the-night march for 10 kilometers into Syria, taking place in total silence, so as not to awaken anyone along the route. The synchronized seizing of IRGC soldiers in different buildings without a shot being fired — the IRGC men were taken completely by surprise, and had no chance to find their weapons and fight back. And then, the successful return march of 10 kilometers back to Israel by the IDF soldiers, this time bringing with them IRGC prisoners. During all this time the Syrians remained unaware of the IDF incursion and seizure of IRGC troops, and so offered no resistance. A spectacular feat. But we expect that, don’t we, from the IDF?
Cynthia says
This was well planned and perfectly coordinated.
If only the hostages could be extracted too!
The level of collusion with Gazan “civilians” surely has something to do with that.
rick says
This is right up there with the exploding telephones, the B-2 bombing and the elimination of nuclear scientists in their homes. What other simply amazing examples of the discipline, precision and extraordinary bravery will we learn of next? When the Ayatollah reads about this you will never hear more four letter words from a mullah as well as a strange sound of utter futility.
OLD GUY says
Just maybe the muslim/islamic men are NOT the best of mankind. Wake up Ayatollah while you still can.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Was this during the Assad regime, or now? I was under the impression that the HTS regime absolutely loathes Iran, and that in this case, all Israel would have had to do was give them the coordinates of where these IRGC combatants were, and HTS would have quietly (or loudly, depending on their preference) taken them out