For the past three years at least, Israel has mounted a focused campaign against the missile development and production sites scattered around Masyaf (principally the Sheikh Ghadban site pictured below, the nearby Al-Zawi defence factories, as well as the Wadi Jahannam site). https://twitter.com/ImageSatIntl/status/1342521541561614337

Without going into unnecessary detail, these facilities are affiliated with the Syrian Scientific Research Center. Following the evacuation of its northern branches early in the conflict, the SSRC "Masyaf Center" now hosts most of Syria's missile development and production sites.

They are administratively organized under the SSRC "Institute 4000" (whose long-time director, Aziz Asbar, was assassinated by apparent Israeli agents on a road outside Masyaf in 2018) and/or broader 'Sector 4' umbrella - and they're a linchpin in Iran's regional missile network.

A good chunk of Hezbollah's contemporary arsenal reportedly came by way of I4000. Iranian advisors play a critical role in the program, especially in Branch 350/Project 702 which focuses on solid propellant for ballistic missiles such as M600/Fateh-110 - a key concern for Israel.

Repeat Israeli airstrikes also illustrate the importance of these programs to Syria, Hezbollah and Iran. Early in the war, it took massive logistical effort to transfer sprawling facilities and hundreds of staff from Aleppo to Hama. They are rebuilding factories every few months.

And this in the middle of a severe regional economic crisis! A key goal of Israel's campaign in recent years (which involved hundreds of airstrikes across Syria) has been to prevent further Iranian entrenchment, principally by targeting key logistical nodes and arms shipments.

However, while Israeli officials publicly claim success in preventing broader Iranian expansion, it's also apparent that Iran and its allies (incl. Syrian army, made to suffer most of the casualties) have been willing to bear significant costs to maintain their regional network.

Just yesterday, Nasrallah claimed that, despite Israeli efforts, Hezbollah had doubled its inventory of precision-guided missiles over the past year. This raises another issue: The vulnerability of Masyaf may have hastened Hezbollah to build its own missile factories in Lebanon.

Such facilities are, politically and literally, highly explosive. Israel has launched an extensive public campaign of accusations regarding such alleged factories in southern Beirut in particular. It also may have lead Iran to consider expanding its missile footprint in Iraq.

This all drives home on point in particular: The "war between the wars" continues to pick up speed across the region. Every apparent "victory" in one theatre merely pushes the adversary camp to raise the stakes in another. Keeping track of moving pieces remains a Sisyphean task.