The decision to involve troops on the ground who were armed with demolition charges was made to ensure that the facility was destroyed entirely, the officials said. Israel had struck the facility repeatedly in the past, and in 2018 it assassinated a Syrian rocket scientist who worked at the center developing precision-guided munitions.

Israel destroyed a secretive missile production facility in northwest Syria last week in an attack that included inserting special operations forces by helicopter to retrieve equipment and documents,

Why is Israel carrying out airstrikes against Syria? - Syrian media agencies say more than a dozen people were killed in the latest Israeli strike on the country

The missile production facility was destroyed in the attack, according to Western officials. Syrian state media reported that 18 people were killed in the strike.

Overnight Israeli airstrikes have killed 18 people and wounded 37 others in western Syria, said Syrian Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabbash on Monday, during a visit to one of the sites. (Courtesy: Reut

Tensions are rising not only on Israel’s northern front along the border with Lebanon, but also on the border with Syria and further off, with Iran.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) - a UK-based monitoring group with a network of sources on the ground - Israeli air and artillery strikes have targeted Syrian territory on more than 60 occasions since the start of the year.

Israeli special forces killed at least 16 people and struck a blow against a suspected Iranian missile factory, U.S. officials said.

Israel and Hezbollah have increasingly exchanged fire with volleys of missiles and strikes, with Israel escalating after the attack on the Golan Heights that killed a dozen children.