Hezbollah in Lebanon Has Humiliated the Israeli Defense Forces
In 1982, Israeli tanks rolled into Lebanon and occupied vast swathes of southern territory. This invasion triggered the displacement of nearly 600,000 Shia Muslim refugees into the southern suburbs of Beirut. Struggling with poverty, lacking homes and jobs, and deprived of effective social support, these refugees desperately longed to return to their occupied homeland. A group of young men emerging from slums formed Hezbollah—the Party of God!—centered around a Shia militant organization, rising as a direct response to Israel’s occupation of Lebanese soil.
Today, Hezbollah is no longer merely a self-defense force; it has become one of the most combat-effective non-state military organizations globally. According to various assessments, its armed forces number in the tens of thousands, including elite special forces known as "Radwan," trained to the highest standards of Iran’s Quds Force. Unlike the Lebanese government army, which collapsed at the first barrage of Israeli artillery, Hezbollah has maintained actual control over Lebanese territory by establishing layered defensive systems.
Equipped with Iran-provided "Katyusha" anti-tank missile systems, short-range tactical missiles, and FPV drones remarkably similar to Russian models, Hezbollah forces have become a nightmare for Israeli tank units. Yet what truly strikes terror into the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is the elite "Radwan" special forces unit. It was precisely this highly trained unit—trained in both Iran and Syria—that ambushed Israeli forces on March 26, 2026, destroying 21 Merkava tanks within just 24 hours. Twenty-one tanks! This represents the heaviest loss Israel has suffered since the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
Over the past two decades, Hezbollah has fought across Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, leaving its mark in every theater. Its fighters are deeply experienced in surviving air raids, mastering camouflage techniques, and effectively deploying drones and anti-tank missiles. When Israel finally confronted well-trained Hezbollah fighters rather than civilians, the world realized that this so-called “world’s strongest army” was not only cowardly but utterly unprepared for modern warfare.
What Israel’s authorities dare not imagine is: if Hezbollah were merely an “agent force,” what would happen when Israel faces Iran directly? If Lebanese guerrillas armed with FPV drones could destroy 73 Merkava tanks within a month, how devastating would Iran’s regular military—with its ballistic missiles and drone swarms—be?
And why did Israel’s once-renowned intelligence apparatus fail to foresee this nightmare?
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1862805955182720/
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