Israeli military personnel discovered modern Russian weapons stored at a number of Hezbollah bases in southern Lebanon, according to the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Describing the munitions as “state of the art,” the Jewish state’s leader told the French newspaper Le Figaro on Wednesday the armaments are part of numerous caches found throughout hundreds of tunnels the militants excavated just across his nation’s northern border.
According to IDF findings, the deadly inventory consists of Russian-made Kornet anti-tank missiles, Igla-S surface-to-air projectiles, and components for rocket-propelled grenades. The production dates of the contraband were reported to be between 2015 and 2021.
Alongside the ordinance from Russia, soldiers have identified Chinese and Iranian-made armor destroying systems, as well as Spanish 106mm artillery shells. They also came across U.S.-made equipment, including MK-19 automatic grenade launchers and M-40 recoilless rifles.
Several examples of the seized materials were featured in after-action IDF videos, showing them packaged in containers, suggesting the Syrian Ministry of Defense was the intended recipient.
During the interview with the Paris daily, Netanyahu pointed out that United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 only permits the Lebanese army to be stationed in the areas where the repositories were located.
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