Aside from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the M48 was also operated by the Lebanese Army, the Christian Lebanese Forces militia, the Druze Progressive Socialist Party's People's Liberation Army militia, and the Shia Amal militia. All the tanks seized by the militias were captured from the Army's mostly Shia 4th brigade which collapsed due to sectarian divisions in 1983. On , eight Israeli M48A3s, two M60A1s and at least three M113 APCs were lost in a successful ambush by Syrian T-55 tanks and BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) during the Battle of Sultan Yacoub in 1982.