In his first detailed review after heavy combat in southern Lebanon, 7th Armored Brigade Commander Col. Shaul Yisraeli outlined the remarkable engineering feats and evolving battlefield conditions his troops encountered.

Speaking before the recent ceasefire, Yisraeli explained how his brigade opened vital routes to the Litani River and dismantled large Hezbollah underground complexes built across two decades.

Yisraeli chose veteran HEO operators to clear paths leading to the Litani River, a task viewed as among the toughest engineering challenges during the ground operation in southern Lebanon.

The action unfolded late at night in southern Lebanon. Within the armored cabin of a D9 bulldozer sat the vehicle commander and, on the left, an HEO operator focused intently ahead.

The route to the Litani River stretched in front while tanks of the 7th Brigade waited for clearance behind. The path was tight, steep, and hazardous, with sections running beside a sharp cliff face.

As the unit moved toward the river, awareness heightened against multiple dangers: anti-tank teams hidden in vegetation and hills, suicide drone pilots, buried explosives, rocket attacks, and mortar fire.

The bulldozer led the advance. Its blade cleared obstacles in its way, including hidden charges and rocks, while carving new sections of route according to the plan set by Col. Yisraeli.

Inside the cabin, key choices were made on maneuver continuation: direction of turns, speed adjustments, incline handling, and steady progress where any error could stop the entire column. The roughly 60-ton vehicle risked sliding or causing path collapse, and any pause could leave trailing tanks exposed.

After tense minutes the critical point arrived. In a confined stretch the bulldozer faced Hezbollah observers. Fire opened. At that instant the HEO operators showed resolve and kept moving.

They advanced until the blade reached the Litani waters. Looking back showed 7th Brigade tanks beginning to roll along the newly opened path.

At the interview start Yisraeli stressed the scale of this success and the role of the 603rd Engineering Battalion. "Engineering companies within the brigade receive little notice for their efforts," he noted.

"They opened crossings at both the Litani and Salouqi at the same time. Such an event had never occurred. Non-commissioned officers and engineering foremen rank in my view alongside nuclear specialists. They performed maneuvers once considered impossible and enabled the attack.

"Their company commanders also proved heroic. They fought at close range in outstanding actions. When the 7th Brigade eliminated 68 terrorists in recent weeks these teams contributed directly."

7th Brigade Leads Combat Operations Following Ceasefire Agreement

The 7th Brigade became the first unit to resume combat after the fragile ceasefire. "It began with an unusual sight," the commander recalled. "We flew a drone over the Misgav Am sector before the move. One side of the feed showed a child on a lawn while moments later terrorists appeared moving south and east in southern Lebanon."

After political approval the brigade advanced on the initial Lebanese villages including Taybe, Markaba, and Rabb El Thalathine to block raids on northern Israeli communities and anti-tank fire. In the next phase the Golani Brigade joined. Once lines stabilized the key phase began: seizing the Hezbollah refuge complex at Qantara.

"This infrastructure was constructed across about twenty years with Iranian assistance alongside Hezbollah," Col. Yisraeli stated. "It featured rooms, stored weapons, and standard elements of Hezbollah refuge sites: firing positions and anti-tank spots aimed at Misgav Am plus a base for incursions into Israeli territory."

He added that Qantara lies directly above Wadi Salouqi and a junction to the Litani, giving control over Froun and Ghandouriyeh villages.

7th Brigade fighters later reached the zone and faced an intense barrage of hundreds of suicide drones. In the third phase brigade battalions combined with Golani forces to seize terrain above the Litani and Beaufort ridge while raiding Ghandouriyeh to destroy terror sites above and below ground.

"The ground was under constant fire," Col. Yisraeli said. Engagement rates stayed high. "We finished securing this sector only in the final two weeks, resulting in dozens of terrorists killed," he reported.

Additionally a tank company working with the Commando Brigade struck Hezbollah sites north of Beaufort, facilities built deep underground from which anti-tank launchers targeted Metula and the Galilee Panhandle.

"Early strikes saw dozens of anti-tank missiles directed at us," the commander explained. "The adversary used well-prepared and extensive ambushes throughout the area."

He also highlighted the growing drone threat. Yisraeli called it "a new challenge we address daily through updated tactics and drills. I hope this prompts national investment in solutions the IDF has sought for years. The time has come to act decisively. I am certain we will achieve superiority over this threat as well."

Lessons From Earlier Conflicts

Before the move into Wadi Salouqi the brigade reviewed difficulties from the Salouqi battle in the Second Lebanon War.

The main finding was that mission goals nearly twenty years ago lacked clarity. This time, according to Col. Yisraeli, the volume and variety of munitions used against forces proved greater.

The 7th Brigade collected early intelligence via drones. Scans identified Hezbollah charges, traps, and anti-tank launchers aimed at narrow crossings.

This data allowed platoon and tank leaders to view exact route conditions and weak points.

Robots followed. When they entered the sector Hezbollah attempted varied fire against them. Once operatives opened fire, air assets located and struck them precisely.

"The third element included prior raids by Egoz units," the commander said. "This neutralized ambush elements by removing charges, anti-tank missiles, and observation posts leading to the refuge complexes."

The brigade maneuver revealed the full scope of Hezbollah refuge infrastructure.

Some sites were buried deeply for protection from airstrikes. Engineering surveys showed the same builder constructed all of them. Rooms, passages, launch areas, and firing slits followed identical standards.

Col. Yisraeli observed that locating refuge sites in Qantara and Beaufort occurred faster than in Gaza due to larger tunnel dimensions in Lebanon.

"They are bigger, and once the starting point is found mapping and destruction become simpler," he said.

"We arrived well prepared with precise intelligence. Qantara illustrates this. It is longer, and we did not reach it during Operation Northern Arrows in September 2024. We aimed to but could not. Now the chance existed to expand gains. Each refuge site stretches 1.2 kilometers or 700 meters. Dozens of rooms deep underground held weapons. Fighters emerged and we engaged and eliminated them."

He noted Hezbollah organized southern Lebanon as layered combat zones, each serving distinct roles: striking Israeli communities, staging Radwan Force raids into the Galilee, delaying IDF advances, and storing arms or housing reserves.

These systems resulted from Iranian-Lebanese cooperation above and below ground with fortifications meant to resist air strikes.

"We also discovered fortified positions along riverbeds," the commander added. "These smaller segments of roughly 80 to 100 meters form a second line topped by ambush teams using anti-tank cells and drones."

He further noted that "in certain cases a subterranean section exceeding 200 meters allows operatives to survive strikes, emerge to harass forces, and withdraw underground."

Drone Threat Continues to Grow

Hezbollah suicide drone use is expected to increase further. Explosive payloads will grow, ranges will extend, and warfare has already shifted.

When asked how drones change the battlefield Col. Yisraeli answered, "We cannot ignore facts. Drones now form a major element that forces changes in our methods. This is highly significant. We have analyzed them and developed tactical responses, yet more work remains."

Still he expressed optimism. "Unlike anti-tank missiles where solutions are harder, here we can already see a path forward. Physics guides development. It will require time, and until then we operate with current tools. Part of the answer is simple, such as nets. We improve constantly. Our movement methods are evolving too."

On future drone defense the commander stated: "Strategically over the long term this threat is actually easier to address. We possess industrial capabilities. We can develop solutions at the needed pace."

Tank Role in Contemporary Combat

Discussing modern warfare with an armored brigade commander inevitably covers tank relevance, especially after earlier General Staff decisions reduced tank numbers, a choice now being reversed through faster production.

"Above all the tank is no longer simply a tank," Col. Yisraeli said. "It functions as a multi-sensor platform. It is a heavily protected vehicle that delivers power to locate and defeat the enemy. In future many systems will operate from it, and we are nearly there. Our drones are already controlled from the tank."