The Israeli army displayed an arsenal of weapons that it said it had confiscated from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, including more than 7,500 military items, including Iranian, Russian and Chinese weapons, in addition to a German MG34 machine gun dating back to the Nazi era during World War II.

In a report published by journalist Yair Kraus in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, he indicated that Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Idan Sharon-Kettler, who is responsible for the confiscated equipment processing unit within the Technology and Logistics Directorate in the Israeli army, supervises a weapons assembly site in northern Israel, where equipment confiscated from southern Lebanon over the past months is continuously transported.

Kittler said that since late February, with the launch of Operation “Lion’s Roar,” the Israeli army has collected thousands of military items, including more than 1,000 ammunition boxes, 750 individual weapons, 140 mortar shells, 60 explosive belts, in addition to Kornet and Fagot anti-armor missiles, and attack drones, as well as more than 3,300 technical pieces that were transferred to the Military Intelligence Division. Israeli for analysis.

The report indicated that the Israeli army considers that these quantities reflect Hezbollah’s continued efforts to rebuild its military capabilities despite the ceasefire agreement, pointing out that Lebanese officials had previously announced the disarmament of southern Lebanon in implementation of the understandings signed with the United States.

In one of the scenes highlighted in the report, Kittler held up an old German machine gun bearing the Nazi-era emblem, and said that the weapon was “confiscated in southern Lebanon,” considering that its presence “carries symbolic connotations linked to World War II.” He added that the machine gun had previously been seized by the Russian army from the Germans before it reached Hezbollah.

According to the report, a large portion of the weapons confiscated were found inside civilian buildings, including homes and hospitals in southern Lebanon. The deputy commander of the Givati ​​Brigade was quoted as saying that Israeli soldiers found rooms containing rocket launchers hidden behind cement walls inside civilian buildings, adding that some of them were directed toward Israeli border towns.

The report also indicated that the Israeli army is working to collect advanced equipment of Iranian, Chinese and Russian origin, while military officials said that some of this equipment “had only been seen in pictures previously,” before it was found in the field in southern Lebanon.

In the same context, the report quoted the commander of a reserve battalion in the Israeli 146th Division as saying that “military success alone is not enough,” considering that the final solution requires a political and diplomatic path, in reference to the efforts led by the administration of US President Donald Trump to advance negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.

The Israeli officer added that the Israeli army “cannot remain on alert on the border forever,” pointing to the increasing pressure on the reserve forces after long months of continuous military operations.