Qassem’s account on “X” recently published a photo of a burning “Merkava” military tank, claiming that the photo was recent, after Hezbollah targeted a Merkava tank in the town of Shamaa in southern Lebanon, “Hezbollah: We destroyed a “Merkava” tank and killed and wounded its crew with a guided missile, west of the town of Shamaa in southern Lebanon, this afternoon.” Indicating that the photo dates back to the event.
Kashif verified the image via reverse image search using “Google Image” tool and found that the image is old and was incorrectly linked to Hezbollah targeting a Merkava tank in the town of Shama. It was published by a group of media outlets, including the Dunya Al Watan website, on 27/11/2008, titled: “Pictures of the 1982 war in Lebanon in which the Palestinian revolution fought against the Israeli army.”
Al Jazeera also published the photo in a report dated 4/11/2024, accompanied by the following title: “The Night the Merkava Fell… How Did the Resistance Destroy the Legendary Israeli Army Tank?” It indicated that the source of the photo is social media, and the tank was destroyed during the invasion of Lebanon in the 1980s.
Hezbollah announced a series of operations on 24/11/2024, including targeting three Merkava tanks with guided missiles on the eastern outskirts of the town of Al-Bayada, and targeting a Merkava tank with a guided missile on Al-Lubia Hill on the western outskirts of the town of Deir Mimas. On 23/11/2024, Hezbollah announced targeting a Merkava tank with a guided missile west of the town of Shama.
| Sources of Claim | Sources of Verification |
| Qassem | Dunya Al Watan Al Jazeera Channel Hezbollah’s War Media |
