The commander of an Israeli Navy missile boat that helped destroy Syria's small surface fleet has given a rare interview about the operation, detailing the careful secrecy surrounding the planning.
On Dec. 9-10, Israeli forces struck Syrian Navy vessels at Latakia and Tartus, destroying the majority of the country's fleet of surface combatants. In a statement, the Israeli Defense Forces said that it had targeted Syrian assets afloat and ashore "to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorist elements."
Syria's government and military collapsed under the weight of a rebel assault in early December, and longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia. The country is now ruled by the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a U.S.-designated terrorist organization and a one-time backer of Al-Qaeda; though it has long since renounced this association, HTS is far from a natural ally for Israel, and far from the only armed faction operating in Syria. Recent reports from within Syria indicate a deteriorating security situation and increasingly brutal reprisal attacks against Assad's supporters.
As a hedge against future threats, Israel moved quickly to liquidate most of the Assad regime's remaining military assets, from jets to munitions depots to suspected chemical weapons labs. It conducted hundreds of airstrikes over the span of a few days, effectively eliminating the equipment of the now-defunct Syrian armed forces.
Syria's small navy - primarily comprised of Soviet-built Osa II class missile boats - was on the list as well. The Israeli Navy was tasked with destroying this aging fleet at the pier before it could be seized by HTS or another militant faction.
INS Herev - a Sa'ar 4.5-class missile boat carrying up to eight Harpoon antiship missiles - was dispatched to Syrian waters to carry out the mission. Even the crew did not know what they were undertaking before getting under way, according to commanding officer Lt. Col. Tomer - and they were stunned when they found out.
"I told them that the ship was now sailing deep into Syrian waters, and the mission was to destroy the missile boat fleet of the Syrian Navy," he told The Jerusalem Post. "We couldn’t believe for a moment that this [operation] would happen during our watch."
INS Herev made a fast transit north and was in position the same night. However, the operation was delayed by a day so that Herev could provide fire support to the Israeli Air Force. The crew destroyed several hostile anti-aircraft systems on shore to pave the way for Israeli strike fighters.
The following day, Herev returned to waters nearer the Syrian coast and helped launch missile strikes on Syrian missile boats that were in port at Latakia. "They sank and were rendered out of service," Tomer confirmed.
In all, Israeli forces destroyed 15 Syrian naval vessels that day, according to The Jerusalem Post.
