Illustrative image.
Hezbollah on March 16 released video footage showing its fighters taking out a Merkava 4M main battle tank, as the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced the start of a “targeted ground operation against key targets” in southern Lebanon.
The tank was hit by Hezbollah fighters around a week earlier close to the town of Markaba in southern Lebanon, using what appears to be an Iranian-made Almas anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), which is a copy of the Israeli Spike family of missiles.
Similar to the Spike ATGM, Almas is equipped with an electro-optical or an infrared imaging seeker. The missile has a top-attack feature, meaning it can hit its target from above as a form of plunging fire. It can also hit targets behind the line of sight.
The missile used in the attack was apparently the Almas-1, which has a range of around four kilometers. Iran has developed two heavier versions of the missile dubbed Almas-2 and 3 with a range of eight and ten kilometers respectively. These versions have also been spotted with Hezbollah.
Previously, Hezbollah also shared footage showing its fighters targeting a fortification at an IDF post on Mount Balat in southern Lebanon more than ten days ago, using what appears to be a Dehlavieh ATGM, the Iranian version of the Russian Kornet.
The Dehlavieh, which is guided via laser-beam riding, is reported to have a range between six and eight kilometers.
Hezbollah was thought to have lost some of its anti-tank capabilities, especially when it comes to newer systems like the Almas and Dehlavieh. This assessment was apparently inaccurate.
The latest footage came as the IDF announced that it had begun a “targeted ground operation against key targets” in southern Lebanon.
The 91st “Galilee” Regional Division began a raid late on March 15 in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon, during which troops encountered and killed several Hezbollah fighters, according to the military, which said in a statement that the operation is aimed at expanding “the forward defense area.”
“This operation is part of the effort to establish forward defense, including the destruction of terror infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists operating in the area, to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of the north,” the military added.
Before Israeli troops pushed into southern Lebanon, the IDF said that it carried out massive airstrikes and artillery shelling “to remove threats.”
Meanwhile, the 146th Reserve Division remains deployed to the western sector of southern Lebanon, and the 36th Division has been carrying out a raid in the eastern sector.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said later that the operation in southern Lebanon is meant to resemble the military’s operations in Gaza during its two-year war against Hamas.
“The IDF has begun a ground maneuver in Lebanon to remove threats and protect the residents of the Galilee and the north,” Katz said in a statement after holding an assessment with military brass. “Hundreds of thousands of Shiite residents of south Lebanon who have evacuated and are evacuating from their homes will not return to the area south of the Litani [River] until the safety of the residents of the north is guaranteed.”
Katz added that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to destroy terror infrastructure close to the border in order to prevent Hezbollah’s return, “just as was done against Hamas in Rafah, Beit Hanoun and the terror tunnels in Gaza.”
While multiple recent reports said that the IDF is planning to reach the Litani River — some 20 to 30 kilometers away from the Blue Line separating Israel and Lebanon — the military has not yet committed to this officially.
Taking into account that Hezbollah has retained its anti-tank capabilities with some advanced ATGMs, the IDF could take some serious losses during the operation. It is unclear, however, if this would be enough to make Netanyahu down at some point.
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hezbollah has a fundamental problem. because of the alawite betrayal of syria, it is cut off from iraq and therefore from iran. hezbollah and iran should definitely make sure that the alawites do not have fun in moscow. iran should strongly demand from vladimir putin to kill all the alawites who have fled to moscow. they are cowards and harm all the shiites and sunnis of gaza as well. their lives should end in moscow. only death is a sufficient punishment for this kind of betrayal.
that can wait. how about death for the joo cockroaches and their stooges first? must get the priorities right.
milosevic never thought he would have a border on the drina. putler deserves to have a border on the urals for betraying all his allies from armenia to venezuela.
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maybe the sri lankans will transfer the wounded iranian sailors to china that would be nice. that they would be treated there by all-female doctors, all of whom would look exactly like batwoman from wuhan.
since russia’s betrayal of syria (and thus hezbollah and iran) i wish nato was from here to the urals. russian whores deserve to have a border with nato on the ural river and the ural mountains because of the betrayal that opened the door to the destruction of russian main ally (colony) iran. this vile betrayal is payment for iranian drones.with drones, russia turned the tide of the war in ukraine in its favor. in payment iran will be destroyed and china will be cut off from iran’s cheap oil.
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according to green peace: hundreds of fully loaded tankers are stuck off the coasts of iraq, kuwait, bahrain, qatar, uae & saudi arabia, & if the war escalates, there can be catastrophic ecological disasters to the coasts of those countries since the sea currents this time of the year would ensure any major oil spills would wash upon their shorelines & damage their ecosystem, water desalination & marine trafffic for a very long time
the israeli terrorists find them selves in gorilla war with an enemy that evaporates upon idf destruction. land occupation now becomes impossible. free palestine