Part of the Egyptian-initiated Operation Badr, the battle was one of the first of the Yom Kippur War, fought in and around Fort Lahtzanit, a fortification of the Bar Lev Line, located 19 kilometres (12 mi) south of Port Fouad in the Sinai Peninsula.

The Egyptians managed to breach the defenses and swiftly capture the fort, and proceeded to clear the bunkers, utilizing flamethrower teams.

During the week leading up to the Yom Kippur War, Israeli patrols between Lahtzanit and Orkal discovered footprints coming from the canal and moving inwards, almost on a daily basis, indicating that the Egyptians were possibly sending men on long-range intelligence missions, or to act as artillery observers.

Two days before the outbreak of the war, Malhov expressed concern to his superior officer of the observations being made on the canal line, and that the forts would not stand a chance if they were attacked.

[3] The 30th Independent Infantry Brigade was tasked with capturing Fort Lahtzanit, located at the Kilometer 19 mark south of Port Fuoad.

'Abassi was also tasked with overseeing the defense of the Port Said Sector, and thus deployed two battalions on the west bank to defend against an Israeli naval landing or canal-crossing.

The troops tasked with isolating the fort from the east reached and occupied a firing ramp prepared for tanks, and raised the Egyptian flag over it.

Another tank broke through the Egyptian position and proceeded immediately north towards Fort Orkal, but was destroyed at Kilometer 14 by the northern isolation force.

[8] At around 2:50 p.m., the B-10 rifles on the west bank managed to open a breach in the barbed wire surrounding the fort, and also destroyed other significant targets, such as the observation equipment.

Meanwhile, combat engineers were breaching further openings using Bangalore torpedoes, under heavy small arms fire and hand grenades.

The Israeli command in Northern Sinai kept receiving frantic calls for help from the fort's radio operator, and gunfire could also be heard.

An anti-air platoon at the Kilometer 17 mark soon shot down an Israeli aircraft (either a Mirage III or an A-4 Skyhawk) with a Strela 2 missile, destroying it.

With the reinforcing anti-tank teams, the company established defensive positions, and el-'Abassi dispatched patrols to secure the roads leading to the fort.