Hezbollah: Advancing “Israeli” Forces Ambushed in Haddatha, Four Merkava Tanks Destroyed

Translated by Al-Ahed News, Hezbollah Media Relations

Hezbollah’s Islamic Resistance Operations Room released a statement detailing the hours of clashes with advancing “Israeli” forces near the southern Lebanese village of Haddatha.

Repeated ground assaults were repelled and multiple Merkava tanks were destroyed during the fighting.

Hezbollah issued the following statement:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

{Permission to fight back is hereby granted to those being fought, for they have been wronged. And Allah is truly Most Capable of helping them prevail.}

Allah Almighty is Truthful

For several days, the “Israeli” enemy army has been attempting to destroy the Resistance’s defenses in the village of Haddatha through intensive airstrikes, concentrated artillery shelling, the use of explosive devices and the deployment of bulldozers and engineering vehicles, as part of attempts to advance into and occupy the village. The Resistance remained firmly in position and confronted those attempts.

Yesterday, May 19, 2026, at 8:10 p.m., a combined force from the “Israeli” enemy army attempted, for the third time in one week, to advance from the village of Rshaf toward Haddatha. After monitoring the force, our fighters ambushed it near the southern entrance of Haddatha, in the stadium area, engaging it with medium and anti-armor weapons and inflicting confirmed casualties among its ranks.

At 8:50 p.m., a Merkava tank attempted to advance toward the Haddatha pond area. The Resistance fighters targeted it with appropriate weapons and destroyed it before engaging its accompanying force. Following this, enemy warplanes and artillery intervened to support the force and provide cover for the evacuation of the targeted tank.

At 9:05 p.m., the Resistance’s artillery units targeted reinforcement forces brought by the enemy army to the southern entrance of the village with mortar fire.

At 10:15 p.m., another force attempted to advance toward the junction leading to Aita Al-Jabal. Our fighters targeted it with direct weapons fire and destroyed a second Merkava tank.

At 12:10 a.m., our fighters targeted a third tank with a guided missile near the southern entrance of Haddatha close to the stadium, leading to its destruction and the complete withdrawal of the force toward Khallet Al-Daraj in the Hema area under heavy smoke cover.

At 3:15 a.m., another “Israeli” army force attempted to advance toward the Baydar area along the same route it had used in two previous attempts over recent days. Our fighters confronted the force, engaged it directly and destroyed a fourth tank.

In the face of this confrontation and the scale of losses suffered among its ranks, the enemy army was forced to withdraw before dawn toward the village of Rshaf.

{And victory comes only from Allah – the Almighty, All-Wise.}