IDF finds modern Russian weapons in Hezbollah warehouses – Netanyahu

17 October, 2024 Hezbollah weapons captured by the Israeli military. October 2024. Footage from Channel 13 video

The Israeli military has discovered modern Russian weapons at Hezbollah bases in Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared this with the French newspaper Le Figaro. The Prime Minister emphasized that, according to the UN Security Council resolution of 2006, only the Lebanese Armed Forces are allowed to have weapons in the territory south of the Litani River.

"However, in this region, Hezbollah has created hundreds of tunnels and caches, where we found a large number of modern Russian weapons," Netanyahu stated. Netanyahu did not specify what kind of Russian weapons were discovered at Hezbollah's bases in Lebanon.

Benjamin Netanyahu with a soldier. Photo from the politician's social media page

He also added that a civil war in Lebanon would be a disaster, noting that Israel does not seek to interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs but only wants to ensure the safety of its citizens living near the border with Lebanon.

On October 16, the Israeli military command released photos of weapons depots located in a civilian residential building in southern Lebanon. In early October, the Israeli military showed captured Soviet-Russian weapons. The captured samples included 9M131FM (thermobaric) and 9M131M missiles of the Metis-M anti-tank missile system.

In addition, the 9K32M Strela-2 man-portable air defense missile system and RPG-29 Vampire and RPG-27 Tavolga rocket-propelled grenade launchers were shown. Russian-made weapons could have entered Hezbollah's arsenals through third countries, most likely from Syria.

Recently, it was reported that the Hezbollah group uses Soviet-made Tu-143 Reis reconnaissance drones as a weapon.