Battle of Sultan Yacoub

The Battle of Sultan Yacoub was a battle between Syria and Israel during the 1982 Lebanon War.

At the beginning of the invasion Israeli Brig. Gen. Giora Lev’s 90th Division passed through Marjayoun and took up positions around Kawkaba and Hasbaiya. From there it began to push the Syrian 76th and 91st Armored Brigade, of the 10th Division, north up the Bekaa Valley towards Joub Jannine.^{[1] [2]} The Syrians made skillful use of their Gazelle helicopters to support the delaying action, firing HOT missiles into the long columns of Israeli vehicles stretched out along the roads.^{[1][2] [3]} Israel countered with its own Cobra helicopters, used against both ground targets and the Gazelles.^[1][2]

On June 10 the Israeli 90th Division was rushed forward in order to gain as much ground as possible before the cease-fire came into effect. Late that night most of its 362nd Battalion as well as Pluga Kaph from the 363rd Battalion fought its way through Syrian infantry in the village of Sultan Yacoub only to become cut off and surrounded. At dawn, the Israelis broke out and escaped to the south with the support of 11 battalions of artillery firing both at the Syrians and in a box barrage around their own troops. In the six-hours ordeal the Israeli Army lost eight tanks and about 30 killed.^[3] The Israelis failed to destroy the disabled M-48A3 Magach-3 tanks they left behind and they were recovered the next day by the Syrians.^[1] At least one is now on display at the Tishreen Panorama Military Museum in Damascus.^[2]

Thirty IDF soldiers died in the battle, which was viewed as an Israeli intelligence failure.^[3][2] Three IDF soldiers remain unaccounted for. The three soldiers were captured and were paraded through Damascus held on top of their captured tank. Time magazine reporter Dean Brelis testified to having seen the three captives alive at the time. Among the three soldiers is an Israeli-US citizen, Zachary Baumel, who remains missing, as are Yehuda Katz and Zvi Feldman.

Responses

The incident in Sultan Yacoub in which the IDF substained casualties in the Lebanon War, did not have to happen, has we should not have been surprised by the existence of the Syrian forces in the area

—OC Northern Command at the time, Amir Drori

The Battle of Sultan Yacoub is just another battle of a tank battalion ambushed (...) there were other battles which were not successful, such as the Battle of Beaufort and the fight at Ein Zahlata, which are, somehow, not mention, probably because there were no soldiers missing (... ) in any campaign you also make mistakes and the one that makes less is the one who's victorious. there is no war in which everything goes smoothly

—Avigdor "Yanush" Ben Gal, corps commander of Northern Command at the time

References