How the IDF Did It: The 7th Armored Brigade in Southern Lebanon

An interview with Colonel Elad Zuri, the commander of the IDF’s 7th Armored Brigade, provides a glimpse into how the IDF protects the people, and the state, of Israel, from those who would destroy both. In southern Lebanon, the fighters — most of them reservists — of the 7th Armored Brigade, having previously fought in Gaza, were up until the ceasefire went into effect driving their Merkava-4 tanks deep into Lebanon, and uncovering vast quantities of weapons. More on their achievements can be found here: “‘Enemy forces retreating’: 7th Brigade guards North from inside southern Lebanon, commander says,” by Avi Ashkenazi, Jerusalem Post, November 25, 2024:

The operational activities of the IDF’s 7th Armored Brigade continue to achieve significant results, uncovering vast troves of Hezbollah weaponry in southern Lebanon, the brigade’s commander, Colonel Elad Zuri, said in a recent interview.

Over the past year and two months, the brigade has added another impressive chapter to its legacy as the IDF’s first armored brigade. Since October 7, they have not stopped for a moment, participating in battles in Gaza and, for the past two months, engaging in three rounds of fighting in Lebanon.

“Our home is the State of Israel, and it must be defended both in the south and in the north,” said Zuri.

The brigade’s fighters have been operating for over a week in the northern region overlooking the town of Metulla and the Hula Valley.

“We are finding significant amounts of weaponry. When we were fighting in Gaza, I said it was hard to imagine the sheer number of tunnels. Here, I say—it’s hard to imagine the quantity of weapons Hezbollah has accumulated and hidden. Almost every house we enter to search reveals weaponry. Some are wrapped in plastic and stored in homes converted into emergency depots for the organization, but we’ve also found launchers with missiles ready to fire at Israel,” Zuri said.

“When you look southward, you see Israel, the northern communities. At a moment like this, my soldiers and I are filled with a sense of purpose. We stand here defending northern Israel—Metulla, the Hula Valley, and its communities.”

According to Zuri, Hezbollah is in distress.

“I have no doubt the rocket fire shakes the public. However, our strikes against Hezbollah, at least on the ground, are highly effective. We clear structures, operate in complex terrain, and expose Hezbollah’s assets. In recent days, there has been a decrease in the volume of rocket fire into Israel. The goal of our operations deep in the territory is to eliminate Hezbollah’s threat and capabilities in the area.”…

Zuri’s interview offers us a glimpse into how one unit of the IDF, the Seventh Armored Brigade, has been defending the people of Israel from those on the northern front — the operatives of Hezbollah — who would destroy both them and the Jewish state. The Seventh Brigade has uncovered, and seized, enormous quantities of weapons. It has pushed Hezbollah, now in retreat, ever further northward. Its fighters have had to contend with extreme cold, with exhaustion after more than a year of uninterrupted fighting, first in Gaza and now in Lebanon, and with the rain, that produces the mud in which a Merkava tank can get stuck or even overturn. But nothing could halt their advance ever further north into Lebanon. They fought with ferocity because they were defending, as their commander Colonel Ehad Zuri said, their home, the home of the people of Israel.