The Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah, subordinated to Iran, prepared several ambushes against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon on Tuesday and then on Thursday, destroying a total of 18 Israeli Merkava main battle tanks and two D9 remote-controlled bulldozers.
At the same time, the artillery of this pro-Iranian group also attacked the Beit Gilel, Nagariya and Shomera settlements, where the Israeli command centers responsible for combat operations in Lebanon are located. Hezbollah also fired on Israeli reinforcements sent to evacuate the wounded.
Huge losses for the Israeli army. There hasn't been anything like this for over 40 years
These attacks on Israel on Thursday were complemented by Iran firing more than 60 rockets at targets in the Galilee in the north of the country.
The last time Israel's armored forces suffered such serious losses was in the 1980s during the first stage of the Lebanon War, when Merkavas and older U.S.-supplied tanks clashed with T-72 tanks newly introduced into service with the Syrian army.
After Israeli-American forces launched an attack on Iran on February 28, Hezbollah opened a second front against Israel, which responded by sending troops to southern Lebanon.
MilitaryWatchMagazine recalled that Merkava tanks had previously suffered multiple losses during Israeli army operations against Palestinian paramilitary groups in the Gaza Strip since late 2023, although these losses were incomparable to those suffered against the better-armed and trained Hezbollah.
