The Operation Room of the Islamic Resistance issued a detailed statement to explain all the aspects of the heroic confrontation with the Israeli occupation forces that attempted to advance from Rashaf town into Hadatha in South Lebanon.
According to the statement, Hezbollah fighters managed to strike four Merkava tanks and target the rest of the enemy vehicles, obliging the Israeli occupation force to withdraw back into Rashaf town.
What follows is the text of the statement:
For several days, the Israeli enemy army has been attempting to destroy the Resistance’s defenses in the town of Haddatha by carrying out intensive airstrikes with warplanes, concentrated artillery shelling, and by bringing in explosive-laden vehicles, bulldozers, and engineering equipment. This is part of attempts to advance and occupy the town, which the resistance has been ready to counter.
Yesterday, 19-5-2026, at 20:10, a combined force of the Israeli enemy army attempted to advance, for the third time in a week, from the town of Rashaf toward the town of Haddatha. After the fighters spotted the force, they ambushed it at the southern entrance to Haddatha, in the stadium area, and engaged it with medium and rocket weapons, inflicting confirmed casualties among its personnel.
At 20:50, a Merkava tank attempted to advance toward the Haddatha pond. The fighters targeted it with appropriate weapons and destroyed it, then clashed with its crew.
Immediately after, enemy warplanes and artillery intervened to support the force and provide cover for retrieving the targeted tank.
At 21:05, the resistance’s artillery unit targeted the reinforcements brought in by the enemy army to the southern entrance of the town with mortar shells.
At 22:15, another force attempted to advance to the road junction leading to the town of Aita al-Jabal, but the fighters targeted it with direct-fire weapons and destroyed a second Merkava tank.
At 00:10, the fighters targeted a third tank with a guided missile at the southern entrance to Haddatha near the stadium, leading to its destruction and the full withdrawal of the force to Khallet al-Darraj in the Hamya area under heavy smoke cover.
At 03:15, another force of the Israeli enemy army attempted to advance toward the al-Baydar area along the same route it had taken in two previous attempts in recent days. The fighters were waiting for it, engaged it, and destroyed a fourth tank.
In the face of this heroic resistance and the scale of losses in its ranks, the enemy army was forced to pull back at dawn toward the town of Rashaf.
Source: Al-Manar English Website