Hezbollah Destroys Israeli Tank with Iranian Missile System

BEIRUT — Hezbollah claimed Thursday it destroyed an Israeli Merkava Mk.4M main battle tank in southern Lebanon using an Iranian-made Almas anti-tank guided missile, marking what the Lebanese armed movement described as a precision strike against advancing Israeli armored forces along the volatile border.

The group said its fighters fired the Almas missile system during clashes in the south of the country. Video footage circulating on social media appeared to show the moment of impact, though the authenticity and precise location of the strike could not be independently verified. Israel did not immediately comment on the reported incident.

The Almas — meaning "diamond" in Persian — is among Iran's most sophisticated anti-tank weapons and is believed to be based on a reverse-engineered version of the Israeli-developed Spike missile. Tehran has supplied the system to Hezbollah and other regional allies as part of a broader military assistance program that has drawn sustained international condemnation. The weapon employs a semi-active laser homing guidance mechanism and is designed to defeat advanced composite armor.

The Merkava Mk.4M is Israel's most advanced main battle tank and is fitted with the Rafael Trophy active protection system, a hard-kill defense designed specifically to intercept and destroy incoming anti-tank missiles before they reach the vehicle. If confirmed, Thursday's strike would represent a significant battlefield test of whether Iranian-supplied guided munitions can defeat Israeli active protection technology in live combat conditions — a question with serious implications for the broader regional military balance.

Cross-border exchanges between the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah have persisted despite a fragile ceasefire brokered in late 2024 under United States and French mediation. The agreement halted the most intense phase of the conflict but has not fully silenced the frontier, with periodic violations reported by both sides and no permanent political settlement in sight.

Qatar, which has invested significant diplomatic capital in Lebanon's stabilization and in pushing for full implementation of the November 2024 agreement, reiterated its calls for all parties to exercise restraint and facilitate unimpeded humanitarian access to communities in southern Lebanon devastated by the conflict. Doha has also pressed for an accelerated political process in Beirut to prevent a relapse into open war.

The Gulf Cooperation Council has broadly endorsed international demands for Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity to be respected, with Gulf foreign ministries warning that renewed escalation risks unraveling fragile progress on Gaza negotiations and wider Middle East de-escalation efforts at a particularly delicate diplomatic moment.