JERUSALEM – The IDF revealed the extensive spoils of its war with Hezbollah in Lebanon as it unveiled a massive display of the materiel it seized from the Iranian-backed proxy.
At an army base in Israel’s north, the military laid out a large selection (but not all) of the 85,100 individual items captured from Hezbollah operatives, weapons caches, and tunnels. The haul included some 6,840 RPG rockets and anti-tank missiles, including 340 Russian-made Kornets, along with their launchers; 9,000 explosive devices and grenades; 2,250 unguided rockets and mortars; 2,700 assault rifles; 2,860 other guns including sniper rifles; and 60 anti-aircraft missiles.
STAGGERING AMOUNTS OF HEZBOLLAH WEAPONS SEIZED: 85,000+ pieces of Hezbollah combat equipment that the IDF recovered from 30 villages:
• 6,800+ RPG and anti-tank rocket launchers
• 9,000+ charges and explosive devices
• 2,700+ small-arms
• 60 anti-aircraft missiles pic.twitter.com/mob9mml4Aa— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) December 25, 2024
The display also includes 20 Hezbollah vehicles captured by the IDF; 60,800 pieces of electronic equipment, communication devices, computers, and documents; and 300 pieces of surveillance equipment. The totality of this military gear is materiel, which the IDF captured during operations in dozens of villages in southern Lebanon since the expansion of the Swords of Iron war to include action across Israel’s northern border in late September. Military representatives estimated the IDF had succeeded in destroying approximately 80% of Hezbollah’s infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah’s weaponry is mainly sourced from Russia and Iran, with a smaller proportion also locally produced. China and even North Korea also supply one of the forwardmost militias attached to the Islamic Republic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Israeli military officials said some of the weapons – particularly mortars – were up to the IDF’s standards and would be used by the army.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel with the launching of thousands of anti-tank missiles in the north at people’s homes in the now mostly-deserted border towns, as well as longer-range projectiles on Oct. 8, 2023, in support of the Hamas-led so-called “Al-Aqsa Flood” of the day before.
There was a certain acceptance of the status quo for nearly a year, until a Hezbollah missile killed 12 Druze children playing soccer in the northern Israeli town of Majdal Shams at the end of July. Within only a few days, one of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s right hand men – Fuad Shukr – was killed in an airstrike on the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut, while Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by what was thought to be an Israeli bomb in an IRGC apartment complex in Tehran.
By the end of September, Nasrallah and almost the entire top echelon of the Iranian proxy was dead, and Israeli boots on the ground were attempting to dismantle Hezbollah’s war machine. While Israel’s political and military leadership is not so naive to think Hezbollah has been entirely defeated, displaying the weapons haul does send a strong message about the successes, which can be enjoyed if these Islamists are stood up to.
