Worst Case Scenario II: Hezbollah’s Ambush of the Golani Brigade

In Worst Case Scenario: Hezbollah’s Conventional Forces: Hezbollah’s Conventional Forces, we discussed Hezbollah’s surprising conventional military prowess and weaponry, and reported of an ambush on a unit operating in Lebanon near Avivim. Haaretz reports that four soldiers from the Golani Brigade were killed and five wounded during the ambush, and the unit withdrew from the batlefield after the encounter, under heavy fire. Excerpted from the Haaretz article, the emphasis is mine:

The hardest clashes Thursday took place at the outskirts of the village of Maroun Ras in the central sector of the border area, just north of Moshav Avivim. This is the second day of fighting in the same area where two IDF soldiers were killed Wednesday.

At about 5 P.M., a unit from the Golani Brigade ran into a large force of Hezbollah militants. It appears that the initial attack began with mortars launched against the IDF soldiers. The ambush took place in an area where a few homes are surrounded by agricultural fields. A number of explosions occurred, and the soldiers and dozens of Hezbollah militants exchanged heavy fire.

The IDF force required reinforcements to extricate itself from the area, and further heavy exchanges of fire followed, with mortars and Katyusha rockets landing on Avivim and its areas. The battle raged for hours, and the soldiers managed to hit dozens of Hezbollah fighters who launched anti-tank weapons, both of Soviet and European origin, and used heavy machine guns.

Hezbollah did not admit it suffered any casualties in the fighting. The IDF is still examining whether the initial blow by Hezbollah militants came from a Sagger anti-tank missile.

The report of an ambush and nine dead Israeli soldiers from Al Manar, Hezbollah’s news service, were not far off the mark.

The Golani Brigade is an active duty IDF unit with experience on the Lebanese and Gaza fronts. It is considered an elite IDF unit and has a storied combat history. They were forced to retreat from the battlefield under heavy fire from the Iranian trained Hezbollah fighters.

The Israelis are calling up another couple of thousand troops – essentially another brigade of reservists. The knowledge that Hezbollah possesses a well trained and armed military force must be weighing heavy on Israel’s political and military leadership. Hezbollah is a direct threat to the Israeli state, and if allowed to survive will dominate the Lebanese political and military arenas, and only grow stronger and bolder over time. The state-within-a-state will become the state.

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

Tags: hezbollah, Israel, lebanon